


Cursed Obedience

by knowmeknot



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Underfell, Ecto-Genitalia (Undertale), Edgepuff, Fairy Tale Elements, Fantasy AU, Fellcest - Freeform, Fontcest, Hurt/Comfort, Kedgeup, Magical Experimentation, Multi, Non-Consensual Soul Manipulation, Polyamory, Sibling Incest, Skull Fucking, Smut, SpicyCinnabun, eventual polyamorous relationships, kustard - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2018-08-29 10:15:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 39,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8485480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knowmeknot/pseuds/knowmeknot
Summary: Once upon a time, the Tale Kingdom and the Fell Kingdom ruled over the underground land of Ebott. A surprise invasion by the Fell Kingdom led to the downfall of the Tale Kingdom, and brothers Sans and Papyrus become servants of the Fell royal family. Life for them was difficult but acceptable until Sans catches the attention of the Royal Magician, W.D. Gaster, who places a spell on them that forced absolute obedience to anyone from use of a single word and intent. With help from the most unexpected pair of monsters, the two brothers fight to break the curse and gain back their freedom.Rape/non-con not with any main pairings.Thanks to Soul (http://undertailsoulsex.tumblr.com) for beta-reading.





	1. The Magician's Curse

**Author's Note:**

> Major character death only pertains to this chapter.
> 
> Also, I have no idea what the name of UF Sans/UT Paps ship so lol Papaya Mustard. If there's a better name, please let me know.

Once upon a time, there existed two ruling kingdoms in the Underground land of Ebott. The first of these kingdoms was kind and just, with its inhabitants made of hope, love and compassion. King Asgore and Queen Toriel Dreemurr ruled the Tale Kingdom, along with their son Prince Asriel Dreemurr and the adopted human child, Frisk. Two monsters worked in close relation with the Tale royal family—Sans the Skeleton, a prodigy magician who acted as a judge to the royal household, and his brother Papyrus the Skeleton, a young enthusiastic monster working hard to become a member of the Royal Guard. 

The second kingdom, the Fell Kingdom, was once just as friendly as the Tale Kingdom; however, the death of the royal family’s son had greatly changed the atmosphere of the kingdom. The King and Queen became angry and vengeful due to the loss of their son and ruled over Fell with an iron fist. The kingdom only became worse after the King and Queen, as a reaction from their grief, adopted the violent human child, Chara. Eventually the inhabitants of the Fell Kingdom became bitter, aggressive and believed that only those with strength and power survived. That everything was kill or be killed. 

The days of peace in the land of Ebott ended when the Fell Kingdom suddenly invaded the Tale Kingdom, led by two feared monsters, Captain Undyne of the Fell Royal Guard and her top general, Papyrus “Boss” Aster. And thus, our story begins.

\---

General Papyrus Aster, who everyone called Boss (or Edge if they didn’t fear a slow and painful death) for short, marched down the ruined hallways of the Tale royal palace. His blood-red, knee length boots clicked with each step he took and his matching colored side cape fluttered in the air. He wore a pair of elbow-length red gauntlets with matching red gloves, and his shiny black armor glinted in the fading light.

Broken and chipped pillars supported pieces of falling ceiling tiles. The once golden hallways now appeared gray and dusty. The general scoffed at the crumbling building, thinking how easy it was to conquer the royal family. He knew that Undyne had already slaughtered the Dreemurr royal family. He was simply scouting for any remaining dawdlers that were too foolish to escape while they had the chance.

A soft thud invaded his non-existent ears, as he was a skeleton monster, and caused him to turn around in the direction of the sound. A human child, wearing a blue tunic with purple stripes and dark blue trousers, laid face-down on the dusty floor, most likely from tripping over a ruined pillar. 

The skeletal grin on Boss’s face grew cruel as he made his way towards the child after summoning a long sword made of bone. The child gave a look of surprise at seeing the tall, dark skeleton monster but then stood up shakily. They gave a wince of pain as they put weight on their sprained ankle. 

“Any final words, human? I’ll make sure your death is as painless as possible,” Boss uttered softly, as he raised his weapon.

Just as he was about to bring his sword down, he noticed a flash of movement and a row of white bones stood in front of the human child, blocking Boss’s attack. 

“HALT! THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO HARM HIS HUMAN FRIEND!” 

A tall skeleton monster wearing white battle armor with a pair of matching red gloves, scarf and boots stood in front of the human. He stared back at Boss in defiance, which surprised the Fell monster. A slow smirk crept up in Boss’s face at the prospect of testing this monster’s abilities and strength. He loved a good fight and had been itching for one since the start of this invasion; Undyne had killed most of the Tale royal guard before he had a chance.

“Another Papyrus? Let’s see if you deserve that title,” Boss challenged.

“I MAY NOT BE A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD BUT YOU BEST NOT UNDERESTIMATE ME!”

The other Papyrus deftly blocked Boss’s swing of his bone sword. The white Papyrus had summoned a tall bone staff to parry the attack. Papyrus twirled the long weapon and thrusted it towards Boss like a spear. The sounds of clattering bones filled the hallway as the two tall monsters traded rounds back and forth at each other. Papyrus remained heavily on the defense, parrying Boss’s attacks to the best of his abilities. Although Papyrus held back Boss’s attacks for several minutes, which the general had to give praise for, the Tale monster’s reaction time slowed.

The human child, Boss noted, remained quiet and tried to stay out of their way. They probably realized that they would only be holding Papyrus back if they were to get involved in the fight. That did not stop the look of concern on their face when they saw Boss finally land a hit on Papyrus’s right arm, causing Papyrus to drop his bone staff. It fell onto the ground with a clatter. Boss directed the pointed end of his sword at Papyrus’s neck.

“I must commend you. Not many people can keep up with me for as long as you have especially given your status. I would have liked to train you to your best potential and have you join the Fell Royal Guard. It’ll truly be a shame if you were to die here. Any last words?”

“it’s _knife_ to meet ya but i’d really ‘preciate it if you didn’t hurt my bro.”

A faint cyan glow had surrounded Boss’s weapon, and sent the weapon flying out of his hand. Boss stared at his empty hand in shock as a bright and adoring smile grew on Papyrus’s face. Boss watched as both the white Papyrus and the human child ran over, or hobbled over in the case of the child, to a short, stout skeleton wearing a light blue magician’s robe. He wore a white tunic and black pants underneath the robe. 

“SANS! I WAS SO WORRIED THAT THEY GOT TO YOU BEFORE I WOULD FIND YOU!”

“heh, me too. hey, you alright there, kiddo?” the magician skeleton replied, turning towards the human and ruffling their brown hair. 

The child winced as they pointed at their sprained ankle. Sans rummaged through the blue pouch hanging from his side and pulled out a small flask in the shape of a bunny, containing a bright green liquid. He poured the green substance onto the swollen ankle. In a matter of seconds, the swelling and redness decreased. 

“there, good as new. how’s it feel frisk?”

The child twisted their ankle left and right before giving the short skeleton a smile and thumbs up. Immediately after, the white Papyrus scooped up his smaller brother and embraced him tightly, clacking their teeth together in a chaste skeleton kiss, while Frisk clapped happily. 

Boss watched the whole exchange and was bewildered by the overt gestures of affection. Although he himself was currently in a relationship with his own brother, they would never display such open love with each other in the public of other monsters, especially in the presence of other Fell monsters; it would simply be used against them. It made him almost envious that the monsters of the Tale Kingdom could display such vulnerable emotions without fear of retaliation. However, that envy did not surpass the compulsion he felt to stop it before Undyne or anyone else saw this. Watching the interaction between these two monsters made him think back to his own displays of affection towards his brother in the safety of their home.

“ARE YOU TWO DONE YET? YOUR GESTURES OF LOVE ARE DISGUSTING!” Boss roared with false revulsion.

The brothers quickly broke their hug. They looked only mildly embarrassed while the human child puffed out their cheeks in retort. 

_How rude!_ they signed, which caught Boss off guard. The only other person who he’s ever seen use that was W.D. Gaster, the Fell family’s Royal Magician and adviser. The monster was also his father, who he and his brother have an estranged relationship with. Boss narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the human child.

“so general papyrus of the fell kingdom, eh?” Sans started. He turned and faced said general. “i have a proposal to make, if ya willing t’here it.”

Boss stared down at the monster, who gave him a completely neutral look besides the constant skeletal grin. Boss was hesitant to trust this Sans, given some similarities he had with his brother, but eventually gave a short nod. 

“I’m listening.”

Before Sans had even made a sound, a dark yellowish red spear came soaring across the hallway, landing centimeters away from where the small skeleton stood. The point was covered in dust. During everyone’s, except Boss’s, momentary state of shock, a blur of blue, black and red flew into the hallway, coming into a halt right before Boss.

Captain Undyne of the Fell Royal Guard wore black armor with spikes jutting out from the shoulders. A broken red heart was painted on the front of her black armor. Similar to the rest of the Fell Kingdom wardrobe, she wore dark red boots and gauntlets. 

“Papyrus!”

“YES!” came the enthusiastic yell of Tale Papyrus.

“I DIDN’T MEAN YOU, YOU IDIOT!” Undyne spat, glaring at the white-armored Papyrus.

Papyrus wilted at the insult and withering look, which caused Boss to almost retort back to Undyne before he held back. Instead, Boss answered back with an even tone tinged with coldness.

“What is it, Captain?”

Undyne turned away from Papyrus and looked at Boss. Both Frisk and Sans patted Papyrus in a comforting manner. Boss was glad it had been more subtle than their earlier gestures.

“The Dreemurr royal family is now dead! Our King and Queen can take over this pathetic kingdom!”

Absolute shock and horror fell upon the three members of the Tale Kingdom.

“NO! IT CANNOT BE! KING ASGORE AND QUEEN TORIEL DEAD? THEY WERE STRONG!” Papyrus suddenly cried out in disbelief.

“Strong?! Are you kidding me?! They were so weak, even our moldsmals would defeat them with no trouble!” Undyne sneered. She then turned and glanced at the three of them before picking up her spear from the ground. She readied it in her hand, “Did the general fail at taking out the trash? Perhaps I’ll do the honors!”

A blue light suddenly surrounded the Captain and forced her to her knees. Boss’s sockets widened in shock, having never seen gravity magic this powerful except from Gaster. Sans stood protectively in front of his brother and Frisk. 

“’m afraid i can’t allow you to harm my bro or the human.” 

Boss had to commend the short skeleton’s audacity since not many stood up against Captain Undyne. This certainly was an interesting pair of monsters. Interesting, yet also very foolish. 

“Captain Undyne,” Boss began evenly. “I believe these three would be beneficial to the royal family.”

The fish monster only responded with a murderous look. 

“These three were obviously very close to the Dreemurr royal family if they were found here. Take them in as servants to the Fell royal family. Think of it as using them to set an example for the remainders of the Tale Kingdom.”

Silence fell upon the hall at the suggestion. Moments later, Undyne gave a grunt.

“Tell that blasted magician to let me go!”

Boss gave Sans an expectant glare. Sans didn’t let up his gravity magic. The human child was shaking their head furiously in disapproval while Papyrus had a look of utter distress on his face. Boss looked away regretfully, taking comfort in that, although not an ideal situation for these three, at least it guaranteed their survival. 

“i’m not really likin’ this suggestion. you expect us to work for our king and queen’s killers?”

Undyne made a frustrated growl, patience worn thin. Boss knew if he didn’t act now, they would die under the Captain’s spears. He could see the sweat forming on Sans’s forehead from the continued gravity magic use. The Fell general summoned his bone sword and took three wide strides until he was in close range of Papyrus. The white-clad monster summoned his bone spear but it was instantly swiped away. Boss aimed the sword at the location of the monster’s soul. 

“I suggest you take it or I can’t guarantee the safety of your brother,” the General threatened. A second sword materialized in his other hand, and he pointed the second one at Frisk. “Or the human.”

With his brother’s life on the line, Sans dismissed the gravity magic. As soon as he had, Boss knocked the blunt end of his bone sword into the back of Sans’s head, knocking him out cold. Papyrus cried out in distress and ran towards his fallen brother. His face met the pointed end of a spear before he could reach Sans. Undyne stood in the way and looked down at the unconscious magic user in disgust.

“STOP! DON’T HURT HIM! HE ONLY HAS 1 HP!”

Boss wanted to call out Papyrus’s careless behavior of letting out that huge weakness in front of an enemy but instead stood there putting on an impassive face. He also had to force himself to not run over and check the unconscious monster. He had not put any killing intent into that attack; it was only meant to incapacitate him.

“Well, Undyne, do you agree with my suggestion?” the General asked.

The Captain looked contemplative before giving a grumble of approval. As soon as she stepped aside, Papyrus ran to his brother and gingerly took him into his arms. 

“Besides, I just remember the Royal Magician mentioning a monster being a prodigy at magic working for the royal family. He requested that we keep ‘em alive.” Undyne divulged with a smirk. She took a quick glance at Sans before saying in a softer tone, “it almost makes me feel bad for him.”

The Fell skeleton suppressed the shudder his body threatened to give and surveyed Undyne with a neutral, cold look, “We better head back. Our work here is done.” He frowned as he thought of warning Papyrus about Gaster’s interest in his brother and for him to make sure the Royal Magician stays away.

Whether the remaining two were still in a state of shock or simply worried about Sans, Boss wasn’t sure. He restrained the two prisoners without resistance. Magic suppressing shackles were placed around Sans’s wrists as a precaution. Once everyone was secured, the two commanders from the Fell Kingdom, along with their prisoners in tow, made their way home.

\-----

After the fall of the Tale Kingdom, the King and Queen of Fell reclaimed the names Asgore and Toriel, respectively, and the remaining inhabitants of the fallen kingdom were forced to become citizens of the Fell Kingdom. As per General Papyrus’s suggestion, Sans, Papyrus and Frisk had been granted mercy by the King and Queen by their becoming servants for the royal household. 

Adjustment into their new life was slow and made more difficult by their grief over the death of their king and queen. Frisk, in particular, had a tough time since they had essentially considered the late King and Queen of Tale as their parents. Working as servants for the royal family was also challenging since the primary disposition of most Fell monsters were almost the complete opposite of those from Tale. Minor offenses and mistakes, such as forgetting to clean the stables daily or mismatching laundry duties, were given some leniency. Repeated and more serious offenses, especially ones that disrupted important parties and meetings that the royal family had, earned severe punishment usually consisting of one-sided tournament fights with stronger monsters which oftentimes resulted in pain and injury to the servant.

Frisk had the easiest servant job of the three— to entertain the royal family’s adopted human child, Chara. Their first few meetings were turbulent, to say the least. Chara had not interacted with other humans, or anyone close to their age for years, leading to anger outbursts and shouting matches at Frisk. Frisk took the verbal, and sometimes even physical, assaults with a kind, understanding smile. Day by day, Chara began to tolerate the other’s presence. 

Papyrus took the shortest amount of time to adapt to this new environment given that his tasks, which consisted mainly of doing household chores, were jobs he’d oftentimes did for the Dreemurrs as well as his own brother. He only wished he could spend more time alone with his brother. After receiving a warning from Boss to not display open affection to Sans due to its dangers in the Fell Kingdom, the tall skeleton had to curb his many skeleton hugs and kisses. Sans too had very quickly learned that any signs of weakness or vulnerability could be used against them. He still always tried to keep a socket out for his younger brother when he had the chance.

The short magic user had the most difficulty adjusting. Given his lower stamina and strength, he rarely completed any form of manual labor. Part of that was also due to laziness; therefore, he did the bare minimum to avoid punishment. He disliked the whole servant arrangement and only put up with it for the sake of his brother and Frisk. That didn’t stop him from covertly using his spells to pull pranks on the head servants. They knew it was always him but never had proof of his crimes. It was during one of his magical pranks, several months after becoming servants to the Fells, that Sans had his first encounter with the Royal Magician, W.D. Gaster. 

Sans had heard many things, good and bad, about the renowned magician. Any practitioner of magic, even those living in the far reaches of Ebott, has heard of W.D. Gaster. So when he found himself face-to-face with the tall skeletal magician, he felt, truthfully, kind of excited to meet such a famous magic user. On the other hand, he was also apprehensive, as he’d been keeping his magical prowess hidden. Somehow, both the King and Queen had yet to find out about his magic. 

“Ah, you must be Sans,” the magician began. “I’ve heard a great deal about you.”

“really? well, gee, i hope they’re all good, heh,” Sans replied, forcing his voice to sound casual.

“Why, of course! I personally requested that you be spared and brought into this household!” 

“wow, is that so? huh, wouldn’t’ve known.” 

This time, Sans couldn’t prevent the nervousness from escaping his tone. 

“To have a prodigy such as yourself working for me, it would be the greatest! Would you accept the offer? We could invent new spells, perfect old ones or even combine them!“ Gaster exclaimed.

The magician’s grin grew into a ghastly, wide slash across his skeletal features. Alarm signals went off in Sans’s head. This man was dangerous, and he had to get away _fast_.

“hey, i just remembered I got something i had to do for the king. urgent message to give,” Sans lied.

“What? Surely, that can wait. I can even speak with the King myself if I have to,” Gaster suggested.

“oh, no, it’s fine. gotta make a good impression for the king, y’know.”

Sans pulled at his gravity magic as he uncovered the smoke bombs hidden behind a cracked wall. It hovered several inches from the ground behind Gaster.

“Really now, I—“

Smoke exploded into the hallway, blanketing the area in a thick, dark cloud. Gaster took a step forward and—

PPPPPHHHHHHHTTTTTTTTT

He looked down and stared at a small whoopee cushion crushed under the sole of his black boot. When the smoke finally cleared, he let out a soft curse and clicked his teeth in irritation.

“You will regret daring to decline my offer, foolish boy!” the magician growled as his eyelights gleamed a deep, sickly purple.

Sans let out a sigh of relief once he made it back to his servant’s quarter. As soon as the smoke bomb had gone off, he teleported himself out of there. He shuddered as he recalled the conversation he just had, dreading his next inevitable encounter with the magician. He would just have to find a way to avoid him whenever possible. Maybe he should start teleporting everywhere he went. Or at least when he had to use the corridors. 

Sans looked towards the door when he heard it open, relaxing as he saw Papyrus barge in. 

“hey, bro, how was your day?” He tried to sound casual.

“IT WAS WONDERFUL! I WATCHED THE GENERAL SPAR WITH CAPTAIN UNDYNE! IT WAS AMAZING!”

Sans’s grin faltered slightly. Papyrus had been talking almost nonstop about the Fell Papyrus for the past few days after witnessing his victory in the Annual Combat Tournament. Papyrus was smitten by the dark general’s finesse with his bone sword and his overall cool demeanor. 

As if sensing Sans’s distress, Papyrus wrapped his lanky arms around his brother in a tight embrace and gave him a light skeleton kiss.

“JUST KNOW, BROTHER, THAT EVEN IF ANOTHER MONSTER CATCHES MY INTEREST MY LOVE FOR YOU WILL ALWAYS BE THE GREATEST!”

Sans’s soul sputtered in happiness as he returned the gesture. 

“me too pap, me too.”

Although thoughts of Gaster and Papyrus’s interest in the general plagued the small skeleton’s mind, in that moment, he let himself fall into the comfort of his brother’s presence.

Over the course of the following week, every time Sans saw even a hint of Gaster’s presence, he would walk in the opposite direction as fast as he could. Unfortunately, his bizarre behavior did not go unnoticed by several of the servant staff and his brother. At first he'd flippantly denied that anything was wrong. After much coaxing and even a set of puppy-socket looks from Papyrus, Sans let it slip that he’d been trying to avoid Gaster. He also ended up explaining his first encounter with the Royal Magician. When he finished, Papyrus had an uncharacteristically grim look upon his face. 

“DO YOU WANT ME TO SPEAK WITH HIM, SANS?”

“what? no, it’s fine. i’ll handle it. i’m a big _bone_ after all.” Sans gave his brother a left-eyed wink.

Papyrus looked unconvinced but didn’t argue any further, which surprised Sans slightly. Usually Papyrus would make a bigger fuss over something like this. The skeletal magic user reasoned that Papyrus was simply letting him handle it, which he preferred. Sans definitely didn’t want Gaster anywhere near his brother.

The days went by and Sans, thankfully, had no further close encounters with Gaster, though part of that was due to his three-days leave from the palace to help with the Queen’s journey to a monster orphanage. When he came back he immediately noticed a change in Papyrus’s behavior. For one, Sans could easily tell that the tall monster was hiding something, given the sad expression on Papyrus’s face whenever he thought Sans wasn’t looking. Papyrus also seemed to be avoiding him as much as possible. Whenever Sans tried to bring up a conversation on the topic, his brother would make excuses. Two days after he noticed Papyrus’s behavior changes, he confronted his younger brother on the issue.

“papyrus, wait! you’ve been actin’ strange lately. what’s wrong?”

The tall skeleton was wringing his hands around the threads of his servant’s uniform. 

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, BROTH—“ Papyrus cringed for a moment. “I’M PERFECTLY FINE, SANS.”

Sans stared, not at all convinced.

“I JUST WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE!” Papyrus shouted. “m-m-maybe it would be b-best if we… if we spent some time apart!”

Sans felt like he’d just been struck. With Sans too stunned to respond back, Papyrus took the chance and ran off, tears dripping down the corners of his eye sockets. 

Sharp pain shot out from Sans’s soul, as if he’d taken a direct attack to it. The short skeleton walked numbly through the empty corridors, not paying any attention to where he was going. Because of this, he did not notice the glint of a thin needle as it pierced into the exposed portion of his cervical vertebrae. As soon as it hit him, darkness consumed him.

When Sans came to, he found himself lying on a steel table. As he tried to sit up, he heard the rattling of chains, looked above his head and saw that his wrists had been shackled above his head. Similar chains bound each of his foot and lower spine to the table. He could feel the iron cuffs disrupting his magic flow, effectively preventing him from using it to escape. The cold surface and air made him realize that his tunic had been removed. Sans took some comfort in the fact that at least he still had his pants. 

_Gotta try and think positive when everything’s gone to shit._

Sans tried to peer past his view of the stone ceiling as he heard the door open. Sharp, swift footsteps stepped into the room, the door was closed, and there was a click of a lock. A chill shot down his exposed spine as Gaster’s grinning face loomed into view. 

“welp, shoulda known it would be you,” Sans commented, trying to keep the fear out of his voice.

“Yes, well, I do apologize for this set up. This could’ve all been avoided if you had simply agreed to my terms without a fuss,” the magician stated coldly. “The offer still stands. If you accept now, I’ll let you go and we can begin our magical research.”

“uh, no offense bud, but knocking someone out and chaining ‘em to a table ain’t the best way to convince someone to work for you. at least invite them for dinner first or something.” 

The look Gaster gave had Sans's soul churning with dread. It was completely emotionless. Clinical. As if he were an experiment in the eyes of this magician. 

“Hmm, that’s a shame. I guess that leaves me with no other choice.”

Sans heard Gaster walk swiftly to the far end of the room. He was back moments later holding a flask that contained a wiggling thread of purple magic. A sharp gasp escaped from Sans’s mouth as he felt a painful tug at his soul. Sans struggled against his restraints as he fought to keep his soul from being summoned. 

“stop! **S T O P !** What are you trying to gain from this?”

“Knowledge, my dear boy, knowledge. As they say, knowledge is power. With the help of your magical genius and my years of experience, I can grow to become even more powerful!” Gaster exclaimed. 

The manic look was back on his face as he forcefully pulled at Sans’s soul. The small skeleton held back his cry as a floating inverted heart manifested above his ribcage. Blue light pulsed from the glowing soul. The magician opened the lid of the flask and gingerly grabbed the purple magic, and brought it close to Sans’s floating soul. It squirmed like a worm digging through dirt. 

“No! Stop! Please!” Sans cried, as he thrashed against the chains and tried to summon his magic with renewed efforts. 

The effect was instantaneous as soon as one end of the thread came in contact with the soul. Like a hungry leech on human skin, the piece of magic buried itself into the center of the glowing soul. As it did, the single strand of thread duplicated to two, three, four and more. Sans couldn’t hold back his screams of pure agony as each strand weaved, back and forth, inside and out, throughout the inverted heart-shaped organ. He pulled against his restraints hard enough for them to dig into his bones. 

Gaster muttered incantations in an incomprehensible language as the process took place, which went on for several minute. Glowing lines of sickly purple interlocked the once pure blue soul. The purple pattern resembled snitching as if done by a five year old; it appeared uneven, messy and mangled. Sans shuddered as his ruined soul was forced back into his ribcage. He felt dirty and violated.

The magician’s face came into view, and Sans looked away, forcing back tears. He didn’t know what this monster had done to his soul.

As if reading his mind, Gaster explained coldly, “I’d given you plenty of time to make this choice but you wasted it. You can only blame yourself for this.”

Sans gave a hoarse groan of discomfort as he felt the threads of purple magic constrict against his soul. Whatever Gaster had just said must have led to the unpleasant sensation. 

Gaster unlocked the chains, freeing Sans’s limbs. 

“Get up!” the magician barked.

Despite his overwhelming exhaustion, Sans felt himself forced to stand, as if he were a puppet controlled by strings.

“Excellent,” Gaster commented coldly. “Now I’m giving you the choice to say whatever you want. Would you ever say, ‘I hate my bro’?”

Sans was about to give a vehement ‘no’, but once again, felt a pull at his entire being. He couldn’t help but blurted out, “i hate my bro.”

Sans’s sockets widened in shock as he realized the _command_ that he’d been just given. The _order_ he was forced to say. He recognized this spell, having read about it during his years studying magic theory.

“y-you!” the small skeleton stuttered in disbelief. “to use this type of cursed magic..."

“Hmm? I did warn you, didn’t I? Now I’m afraid you’ll have to face the consequences of your foolish actions,” Gaster replied pleasantly, giving Sans a false, kind smile. “Oh, and poor dear Papyrus must be suffering from his orders as well.”

Sans felt like he’d been just dunked in ice cold water. He felt himself briefly passed out in shock before coming to and registering what the Royal Magician had just said.

“w-what did you say?”

“He came to me days ago begging for me to stop bothering you. He was being troublesome so I tested this spell on him first. His magic thread was much weaker than this one. I must’ve messed up the formula for that one,” Gaster explained clinically. “But it doesn't matter. I still attained what I wanted.”

_it’s all my fault._

_if only i hadn’t told him._

_it’s all my fault. my fault. my fault._

Sans’s thoughts were interrupted as he felt that familiar tug at his soul, his being, the compulsion to _follow_. Sans forced his attention back to Gaster, though it wasn’t like he had any choice in the matter. He’d suddenly realized the two of them were standing outside of that room, in a deserted hallway. He obediently followed after Gaster as the magician strode through the hallway.

“what?” the short skeleton asked blankly. 

The magician scoffed before responding, “I said, you are not to tell any monster, human, living creature, of this spell, not a single part of it. And of course, you are forbidden to say a word of this to your dear brother. In front of him, you are to act as if this never happened.”

Sans’s soul twisted and throbbed at the commands. 

“that’s a tall batch of orders. got any more, _master_?” Sans gritted out mockingly.

Gaster’s sockets flashed purple briefly before settling to its normal pinpricks. 

“Why yes, since you no longer have a choice in the matter, you are to meet me down here every evening at midnight. You are dismissed.” 

Once the magician was out of sight, Sans teleported into his room, collapsing into his cot in utter exhaustion. He didn’t let himself sleep, forcing himself to stay awake to devise a plan to get his brother away from Gaster, away from this place. Although Sans didn’t know what his brother’s command word was, he was determined to get his bro out of here. And his best bet would be help from the Fell General Papyrus. 


	2. The Chance Encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus has an unpleasant meeting with Gaster who makes everything worse while Red meets his double at the Librarby. Also, Fellcest smut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally have a rough outline of this story and estimate it to be about 10 chapters in length, plus/minus two. 
> 
> Anyway there is smut in this chapter. Heed the warnings! All smut scenes will be designed with ******* at the start and end for those who want to skip it. Enjoy!
> 
> **Chapter warnings: Fellcest, light bondage, ecto-parts, oral sex, penetrative sex**

Papyrus the Skeleton tossed and turned in his cot as he awaited Sans’s return, running endless scenarios in his mind about Sans’s whereabouts and fretting over the idea that something bad may have happened to him. His brother never came back this late except for the past two nights, ever since Papyrus had told Sans that it would be best if the two of them spent some time apart. The tall skeleton couldn’t help the few stray tears leaking from his sockets. He truly hadn’t meant what he’d said.

If only he hadn’t been so foolish to trust the Royal Magician’s words. If only he hadn’t agreed to have that spell placed on him at the expense of having that magician leave his brother alone. Papyrus still shuddered every time he remembered the disgusting and painful feeling of the threads weaving throughout his soul. Now he had been forced to say something he could never take back. Was this why his brother had avoided him during the last two days?

Papyrus heard the door slowly creak open though he didn’t move to get up. Sans’s short and stout figure quietly shuffled over to the cot across from him. Papyrus immediately noticed the heavy slouch in his brother’s posture, as if he’d been working all night and was about to fall into himself. He could no longer contain his silence.

“Sans?” the tall skeleton asked, much softer than his usual passionate tone.

Sans spun around and stared at Papyrus in suppressed shock before quickly morphing into his usual grin.

“oh, heya, paps. you didn’t hafta wait for me. unless you want a bedtime story. sorry ‘bout missin’ the last two nights.”

Dark circles lined the bottom of Sans’s sockets, and the weariness eluting from his skeletal face did not escape Papyrus’s notice.

“Where have you been? Is everything all right?” Papyrus wrung his hands together fretfully under his bedsheets.

“everything’s been fine, heh, thought i’d stop being such a lazybones and finish some of my work for tomorrow. don’t worry ‘bout it,” Sans responded casually, eye lights darting to the side.

His brother was lying. Sans never looked at him directly in the face when he lied, something Papyrus had slowly discerned since their relationship began. And although he knew Sans would never lie to intentionally hurt him—it was usually the opposite— it still upset him. 

“But you’ve been gone these last two nights. With my help, surely these tasks can be done during the day.”

Beads of sweat dotted Sans’s forehead but he didn’t respond, which only increased Papyrus’s concern.

“I’M WORRIED ABOUT YOU!” Papyrus couldn’t help but exclaim.

“then stop worryin’ bout me and worry more ‘bout yourself!” 

The room fell deathly silent that even a pin drop could be heard. Papyrus stared at Sans in shock, never before had his brother raise his voice at him.

“be-besides, didn’t you say we should spend… spend some time apart.”

Papyrus felt as if the air was suddenly knocked out of him, regret and sharp, piercing pain flooding his entire being. Sans still refused to look at him, eye lights staring at the ground.

“just stop asking me, bro. everything’s fine.” Without another word, the short skeleton walked out the room.

Papyrus let out a strangled cry, hoping to call his brother back but realizing it was useless. As soon as the word ‘bro’ had left Sans’s mouth, Papyrus felt a pull at the threads surrounding his soul, compelling him to follow. Sans had unintentionally used the command word, or at least a variant of it.

_“Brother,” Gaster said coldly._

_“WHAT?”_

_The Royal Magician peered down at Papyrus intensely. Slowly, his skeletal mouth grew into a wide, ghastly grin._

_“You’re command word, of course. Brother, or bro, as Sans likes to call you. If anyone uses that word, including your dear brother, you have no choice but to follow any order they give. It fits quite well, if I do say so myself.”_

_Papyrus immediately challenged back, “SANS WOULD NEVER MAKE ME DO ANYTHING I WOULDN’T WANT!”_

_Gaster simply stared back at Papyrus with his splitting face. “Of course not but he doesn’t know your command word.”_

_The skeleton magician slowly sauntered his way towards Papyrus. Gaster was a full head and shoulder taller than him._

_“And you will never speak a word of it to your brother or anyone else. Nor will you ever speak of our meeting and this spell to anyone. Whether the individual knows your command word or not, as long as they use it with the intention of giving an order, you cannot do anything but follow.”_

And now because of that accursed spell, and his brother’s words, Papyrus could no longer even ask the simple question. But he would not be stopped. He was the Great Papyrus, after all, and he would never back out of something this easily, especially not when it came to Sans’s well-being. Papyrus ignored the ache in his soul as he slowly drifted asleep.

The next few days passed by relatively uneventfully with Papyrus trying his best to keep a close watch on his brother. Their interactions were sparse during the day but Sans made up for it by devoting time to tell bedtime stories for Papyrus, which made his soul pulse with happiness. His brother’s nightly escapades seemed to have ended though the weary appearance on Sans’s face persisted. Every time Papyrus attempted to ask Sans about his well-being, he felt the constriction against his soul and, like a marionette controlled by strings, he could not speak the words.

Papyrus found himself spending more time during the day with Frisk and their new human friend, Chara. Chara was quite rude to him, always treating him like an ignorant child. Papyrus ignored it to his best abilities, assuming that he simply amazed the small human so much that they could only say mean things to make themselves feel better. He provided the Fell child with puzzles he had come up with during his spare time, though Chara usually ended up ruining them. Frisk oftentimes had to intervene. Papyrus was glad that the two humans were such great friends.

With the remaining time Papyrus had during his day, after all his servant chores and friendship meetings with Frisk were completed, he watched for his dark counterpart. He was smitten by the General ever since they had their duel together. He always tried to attend any sparring matches the General had at the royal palace and today was one of those days. Unfortunately, it was also one of those days he fell behind in his servant duties.

Fell King Asgore had a fascination with exterior landscaping, believing that the gardens were lacking in décor. He brought some poisonous plants and flowers, many of them red in color, to decorate the gardens and ordered some of his servants to plant them. Asgore would rather do it himself, believing the servants would mess up his magnificent design, but had kingly duties to attend. He did promise severe punishment should any part of his garden look subpar. 

Papyrus had been one of the servants selected to be a part of the gardening team. He much preferred cooking or helping out the royal guardsmen but he couldn’t refuse an order by the king, even without use of his command word. 

The tall skeleton had just finished digging a wide enough hole to plant a poisonous red flower when he heard barking laughter coming towards him. He looked up from his work and saw the canine unit of the Royal Guards strutting their way over to him. There were three of them, Doggo, Dogamy, and Dogaressa. All of them leered at Papyrus like a predator surveying their prey. Though technically, since he was made entirely of bones and dogs loved chewing on bones, he was probably food to them.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t one of the spineless monsters from Tale,” Doggo sneered.

“HELLO! HOW MAY THE GREAT PAPYRUS BE OF SERVICE TO YOU?” 

The three canines looked at each other before bursting into mocking laughter.

“The Great Papyrus? Don’t make me laugh,” Dogaressa jeered as she kicked out at Papyrus’s left leg, causing the tall skeleton to topple into the ground. Papyrus stifled his yelp of pain. “There’s only one great Papyrus, and that’s our general! Tale scum like you will never measure to our abilities!”

“PLEASE DO NOT MISUNDERSTAND,” Papyrus answered. “INDEED THE GENERAL IS GREAT, PERHAPS EVEN GREATER THAN I, BUT--"

Doggo grabbed one end of the red scarf he always wore and tugged hard, unraveling it from his neck.

"This isn't part of your servant's uniform," he sneered. 

"NO STOP! MY BROTHER GAVE ME THAT!" Papyrus cried out, motioning to snatch it back. Doggo only held it further away.

“Too bad!” Dogamy roared as he stomped his hind legs down on Papyrus’s left tibia. 

This time Papyrus couldn’t stop the cry of pain that escaped his mouth. He then felt a rough kick at his side. Through the haze of pain, Papyrus thought he saw a flickering of red. Something struck the side of his skull, and he brought up his arms to protect himself. He heard something fast fly through the air and land onto the ground close to him with a thrump! The attacks stopped. 

“WHAT ARE YOU MUTTS DOING?” a voice of barely suppressed rage rang out.

Figuring he was no longer getting attacked, Papyrus moved his arms and saw the General standing a few feet away. His sockets were narrowed in rage, arms crossed tightly across his chest.

“Ah! Boss! We were just, uh,” Dogamy stared frantically at the other two for help. They looked just as frightened. He then glared at Papyrus. “This lowly servant was talking bad about you, sir!”

Boss’s sockets fell upon Papyrus, who was ready to dissent.

“I do not need your useless prattle. Leave now and get back to your training! And give that cloth to me!” the General ordered. 

Doggo handed the scarf back to Boss. The three dogs, eyes still large with fear, gave their assent and ran off back to their training ground. Boss stared at Papyrus intensely in contemplation, causing the Tale monster to become flustered. 

Ruby eye lights inspected the soft fabric in his hands.

He warned impassively, "You should not wear this if you don't want to damage or lose it." He handed the piece of clothing back to Papyrus.

"THANK YOU!" Papyrus held in against his chest. "I WILL TAKE GOOD CARE OF IT!"

“How is your leg?”

“IT IS NOTHING TO THE GRE— TO PAPYRUS!”

Papyrus tried to get up but uttered a pained gasp from his fractured tibia.

“Hold still.” 

Boss bent down and hovered his gauntlet covered hand over Papyrus’s injured leg. A pulse of green light sprang forth from the General’s hand. Warmth spread down Papyrus’s injured bone, and he gave a relieved sigh. Only a dull ache persisted after the light faded away. 

“WOWIE! I DIDN’T KNOW YOU CAN HEAL! THANK YOU!” Papyrus pronounced with appreciation.

“I rarely make use of it. Do not speak of it to others,” Boss declared curtly. He surveyed Papyrus’s awestruck expression. “How is your brother doing?”

Papyrus deflated at the question and answered softly, “He is well. We don’t see each other much but I am proud to see him work so hard.”

The Tale monster wrung his phalanges against the hem of his shirt, still hoping his brother was not in trouble in some way. 

“I see.”

Silence fell upon the two skeletons. Nervousness bubbled forth within Papyrus. He tried to think of something to say to the other monster. He normally had so much to say.

“Become my servant,” Boss proposed.

Papyrus stared at the General in confusion, “WHAT? I’M ALREADY A SERVANT HERE.”

“Become my personal servant, I mean. From now on, whenever I am here, you shall serve me personally and no one else. I will make sure the other guards leave you alone,” Boss explained. “Do you agree to this?”

Papyrus was surprised he was given the option to decline. Most servants followed the royal family and guards strictly, as any dissention would lead to punishment. This wasn’t even an order that was affected by Gaster’s spell. There were worse monsters that Papyrus could work for, and he’d get to spend more time with the General.

“I’LL DO IT!” 

A slow, barely noticeable smile crept onto Boss’s face, “Excellent. I shall give my request to the King right now. Come with me.”

Papyrus eagerly trailed after the General, failing to notice the red-colored bone sticking out of the ground from where the dog monsters had been standing and the short skeleton hidden behind a thick bush. 

The two skeleton monsters found the King meeting with Gaster. Papyrus inwardly cringed at the sight of the Royal Magician and fought the urge to leave. He could not act cowardly in front of Boss and especially not the King. Even the General halted completely at the sight of Gaster.

A chill ran up Papyrus’s spine as Gaster eyed him with a nasty sneer. Once the magician saw Boss, however, his expression grew hateful.

“Ah, General Papyrus, just who I was looking for,” the towering goat king addressed. “There’s been reports of resistance groups surfacing in Hotland. I would like you and Undyne to take care of it.”

Boss pointedly ignored Gaster’s withering glare and gazed directly at King Asgore.

“It shall be done, your majesty,” Boss conceded. “Before I go, I have a request to make.”

The King motioned for him to continue. 

“I desire for this monster,” the General pointed at Papyrus, “to personally serve me when I am here. Most of the servants here are below my standards but this monster’s work is diligent and completed timely.” 

Papyrus’s soul flutter with happiness, and he puffed out his chest at the praise. Asgore appraised the Tale monster before giving a nod.

“That is acceptable. I will see you when you get back. You two are dismissed.”

Both of them bowed, and Papyrus followed the General out the door. Papyrus was disappointed that Boss had to leave so soon for his duties. He implored the General to show mercy on the resistance monsters but the Fell monster could not promise anything. Papyrus thanked Boss nonetheless as he made his leave. 

The Tale monster was on his way to the servants’ quarter when he heard sharp footsteps coming from behind him. He spun around and found himself face to face with Gaster, who regarded him coolly. A cold sweat broke out.

“How fascinating to see you get along so well with my creation,” the Royal Magician stated, his last word filled with disdain. 

Papyrus was surprised by this information. He would never have guessed the two were related but it made sense since they were both skeletons. Then again, he never knew his father and only ever remembered being raised in Snowdin and then by the late king and queen of Tale. 

“CREATION? YOU MEAN YOUR SON? I DID NOT REALIZE THAT HE IS RELATED TO YOU. WELL I BELIEVE HE IS A GREAT GENERAL!” 

Papyrus wondered why the two didn’t even greet each other earlier. 

“Great you say? No, both he and his brother are worthless trash,” Gaster suddenly spat. Papyrus gawked at the magician in utter shock. “They have absolutely no capacity for magic.”

Papyrus rarely let anger overtake his good nature. Right now, however, he couldn’t stop it from surfacing.

“THAT IS A HORRIBLE THING TO SAY ABOUT YOUR SONS!” Papyrus declared passionately, pointing an accusatory finger at the magician. “YOU CANNOT EXPECT EVERYONE TO BE GOOD AT MAGIC. EVERYONE HAS THEIR OWN STRENGTHS AND TALENTS!”

“Those naive thoughts of yours will become your undoing,” Gaster scoffed. “No, I would never regard those two failures, who can’t even grasp the technicalities of magic theory, as my sons. Your brother, on the other hand, seems to have a natural gift for it.”

Papyrus was momentarily shaken before his protective instincts burst forth.

“YOU WILL NOT GO ANYWHERE NEAR SANS! WE MADE A DEAL!” Papyrus was so filled with indignant rage, he almost felt the need to stomp on the ground like a petulant child. But he didn’t as he wouldn’t allow this nasty magician to get the better of him.

“That love you have for your brother, it’s so very sweet. ” Gaster falsely cooed. “It would be so unfortunate if something were to happen to it.”

He suddenly felt as if the air was knocked completely out of him. Dread filled him. He couldn’t let this happen!

“YOU WOULD NOT DARE—!”

“Dare what? Besides, you seem to be getting along so well with the General. Think of this as a favor,” the familiar, face-splitting grin was back on Gaster’s face. “Your feelings for Sans to not exist and be replaced by the General’s. How great it would be if the love you felt for your dear _brother were to slowly fade away._ ”

As soon as those words left the Royal Magician’s mouth, the command began to take effect. Papyrus couldn’t stop the cry of pain from escaping his mouth. The pain was like no other. It was wholly agonizing, as if his soul were splitting into pieces.

 _No! I refuse!_

Black spots flickered into his vision, and he crumpled to the ground.

_Sans!_

The stabbing pain became too much, and he finally allowed the darkness to take him.

\-----

Red sat grumpily on the grassy ground, still hiding behind the large bush. He impatiently tugged on a handful of grass, disregarding the green stains left on his black pants and phalanges. He wore a worn, black cloak over his red tunic. A black studded collar sat around his neck. He let out an annoyed sigh.

What was taking his brother so long? He knew he should’ve just stayed home and slept. He didn’t understand why Boss insisted that he come with him to the Royal Palace today. It wasn’t like he liked this place. At all. If he never had to come to this blasted, ugly mess of architecture, he would gladly take it. The things he put up with for his brother.

The one good that came out of this was seeing the white Papyrus. Boss had mentioned the two Tale monsters that became servants to the royal family. Well, it wasn’t as if Red didn’t know about them at it. After all, he saw these two monsters first but not in the conventional sense. He had the gift of seeing future events in his dreams, though they can be easily misinterpreted and were not always set in stone. He was glad he’d decided to tell Boss about these two, who showed up many times in his visions. At least they weren’t a pile of dust like how many other monsters from the Tale Kingdom ended up. 

He also almost blew his cover by trying to attack those shitty mutts. Thank the stars Boss stepped in before he did. Boss had become quite interested in the two Tale brothers’ well-being. Heh, Red always knew his brother was a huge softy underneath that thick layer of ice.

When the sound of Boss’s familiar strutting footsteps reached his ear, Red scrambled up from his hiding spot. Time to put on a show.

“h-heya b-b-boss. you’re back,” Red stuttered, as he began to tremble.

The Fell General marched up to the short skeleton and seized him roughly by the collar around his neck. There was just enough slack given to allow him to breath. Not that he needed to, being a skeleton and all. 

“YOU USELESS SACK OF GARBAGE,” Boss snarled in his loud tone. “I TOLD YOU TO WAIT FOR ME BY THE ENTRANCE. DID YOU THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH DISOBEYING MY ORDERS?”

Several of the servants stared at the two of them frightfully before looking away. They’ve all seen similar scenes numerous times to know not to intervene. Red knew a number of them even enjoyed it. Those sick bastards, he thought as Boss smacked him across the face. It barely even stung. Boss was distracted, given the lack of enthusiasm in his acting.

“s-s-sorry boss! i didn’t mean to—” Red curled into himself with practiced fear.

“I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR YOUR WORTHLESS EXCUSES!” Boss kicked him in the ribs and then whispered into his nonexistent ear, away from their audience, “Get us home. I tire of this farce.”

Red gave his brother a confused look before giving a final false yelp of pain. He grabbed Boss’s arm and, with a loud crack, the two skeletons disappeared. 

As soon as the two brothers landed in their home, Red found himself unceremoniously dropped onto their worn, lumpy couch. His brother looked tense and angry.

“geez boss, what’s rattlin’ your bones?” Red gave him a cheeky grin.

Boss growled in frustration, “Our fa— Gaster was meeting with Asgore when I gave my proposal.”

Red’s smug expression immediately dropped, his sockets narrowing, “that bastard heard everything then? shit.”

Red knew this greatly upset his brother, even though he was masking his concern. His brother was the one who had to deal with the aftermath of all the magical experimentation done to Red, after all. Red still got nightmares from the events. Right now he wanted to get his brother out of these distressing thoughts.

“c’mon boss, you’ve been workin’ yourself down to the bone, heh. i think you could use some...” Red trailed his left hand up Boss’s clothed femur, lowering his voice seductively, “stress relief.”

*******

The short skeleton heard a hitch in Boss’s breath and grinned. He fondled the hardening bulge in his brother’s pants, watching the taller skeleton tug off his ragged side cape. In a blur of movement, Red was twirled around, with red flashes briefly obscuring his vision, and lurched sideways. Once his disorientation settled, Red found himself kneeling on the floor in front of Boss’s crotch with his arms bound tightly together behind his back by the red cape. His brother had a hand placed firmly on his right shoulder. Boss fiddled with his pants and let his erection spring free.

“Open up and use that big mouth of yours for something more useful,” Boss ordered.

Red didn’t need to be told twice as he summoned his tongue and eagerly lapped up the long, red shaft. His eye lights trailed up to Boss’s face. His brother’s chilly mask was beginning to crack. The short skeleton grinned as he licked down the entire underside of his brother’s cock. Red finally took the head into his mouth, his tongue deftly teasing the oozing slit. He grazed his sharp teeth lightly against the cock’s surface. 

A low, barely suppressed moan escaped from Boss’s mouth. That was the only warning Red received before the General seized the collar around his neck and pulled it roughly forward, forcing him to take the entire length. Red gagged as the head hit the back of his conjured throat. His brother lightened his grasp at the sound. Red winked once with his left eye to give his brother the green signal to continue. Boss made a few shallow thrusts.

“Hah… you look so good like this, brother,” Boss praised softly. His pace quickened and became more forceful. 

A muffled moan escaped Red from the praise and from the feeling of rough thrusts hitting his throat. Saliva dribbled down his chin. His own arousal became painful but he knew better than to leave his brother unfinished. It wasn’t as if he could do anything about it currently anyway. 

Red twisted his tongue along the underside of his brother’s cock, edged on by Boss’s breathy groans of pleasure. A particularly loud one flowed out of Boss’s mouth as he penetrated Red’s mouth to the hilt. Red felt the head swell. 

“Swallow.”

The older skeleton didn’t even need to be told this as his brother came. He hungrily swallowed as much of Boss’s cum as he could like a monster drinking water in Hotland. His brother pulled out. He gave a cheeky grin, relishing the feeling of cum and saliva dripping down the side of his mouth. Now it was finally his turn.

To his supreme disappointment, Boss gave a satisfied huff before fixing his pants and taking a few steps away from Red’s kneeled position. Red squirmed against his bonds to get some friction for his unrelieved cock. 

“boss!” the short skeleton called out desperately. “ya can’t just leave me hangin’!”

The General stood at his full height and crossed his arms against his chest, “Oh can’t I?” A satisfied smirk worked its way into his face. “I must say, brother, I quite like seeing you like this.”

Red knew his brother was only putting on an act. He didn’t know how much longer he could take this. His brother was being unusually insistent in not letting him come. There was only one thing he had to do to satisfy his brother’s whim.

“p-p-please b-boss, p-please let me come,” Red begged, beads of tears lining the corner of his sockets.

Red watched as his brother went behind him, crouched down and wrap an arm along his ribs in an embrace. His other hand trailed along the waistband of Red’s pants.

“Sans,” the taller skeleton breathed out against his non-existent ears, sending a shiver down his spine. “Do you realize how amazing you look like this, seeing you beg.”

Red gasped, not only because he hadn’t heard his brother use that name in years –since he’d thrown it away— but also because he felt Boss’s renewed erection press against his tailbone. In one fell swoop, Boss pulled down his pants and wrapped a hand around Red’s cock. The bound skeleton let out a choked moan as his brother pumped his length several times. 

Before he realized what was happening, he was lifted off his feet and pressed face-first into the lumpy couch, the back of his pelvis entirely exposed to Boss. He rutted his throbbing length against the couch for some sort of relief. He stopped when he heard shuffling of clothes behind him and felt the head of Boss’s cock tease his entrance, which he hadn’t even realized he’d summoned. 

“Worry not, brother, let me show you my appreciation for the stress relief you have provided me,” Boss whispered against his head.

The short skeleton cried out in pleasure as Boss roughly entered him. Boss paused, giving Red time to adjust, before setting a rapid and punishing pace. 

“gah… f-fuck, boss, so good,” Red groaned. “h-h-harder!” 

He loved this. His brother pressed flush against his backside, thrusting roughly into his hole, his arms bound and trapped behind him. Gods, he loved it when his brother fucked him senseless.

Red keened as Boss gripped his thick cock and pumped simultaneously with his thrusts. Red felt his peak rapidly approaching.

“Hnnngh... b-b-boss… i’m gonna...”

“Come for me, brother,” Boss growled sensually. 

That was enough. Red screamed as he came, ropes of red cum spraying out his length onto Boss’s hand and the couch. He vaguely thought it was great all the magic residue disappeared on its own without having to clean it up.

*******

By the time Red had come down from his climax, his arms were free. He appreciated Boss messaging his arms to relieve the tension in them, though it wasn’t necessary. Red sighed as he settled lazily into the couch against his brother. The two skeletons sat there in peace, slowly coming down from their high.

“How do you feel?” 

“hmm… couldn’t’ve asked for better.”

“That is good,” Boss responded. “The King has given me a request to put down some resistance groups that have surfaced. I will be gone for a few days,” 

“man, that _blows_. king’s workin’ ya so hard even i’m feelin’ tired.”

“Hmph, I will forever be amazed by your boundless laziness,” Boss stated dryly and gave an exasperated huff. The General placed a light skeleton kiss on Red’s forehead before getting up to grab his traveling gear. 

“wait, you’re leavin’ already?” Red asked as he sat up.

Boss let out a tsk, “Not everyone is as lazy as you, especially not the Great and Terrible Papyrus.” Boss frowned slightly at Red’s expression. “It’ll only be for a few days. Take care, brother. Stay out of trouble while I’m away.”

Red gave his brother a half-hearted farewell. He then let out a grumble of annoyance as he flopped back against the couch. He sat there for several minutes before realizing he had some books to pick up at the Librarby. 

He appeared behind one of the back shelves. As he strolled past the aisles of books, a hunched, cloaked-wearing monster caught his sight. His face was buried behind a thick tome on curses and spells. The other books scattered around the skeleton were about souls. Red frowned at the sight. Now who could be interested in this sort of thing?

“heya,” Red greeted, “never seen you here before.”

The monster tensed and slowly lowered his book. Red froze as he stared at the skeleton monster who looked so similar to himself. He immediately recognized who this was. This was the Judge for the late King Asgore of the Tale Kingdom, rumored to be a magic prodigy, and most importantly, the one who’s caught the eyes of his shitty old man. Boss had given him that information right after the two monsters had met.

“you, uh, need something pal? i’m kinda busy here,” the skeleton monster said curtly. His permanent grin was tight and his sockets narrowed in suspicion and just a tinge of fear. 

The monster scrambled to hide the large tome behind him, even though Red already saw what it was about. It made sense why the monster acted this way; he clearly wasn’t supposed to be here. Most servants weren’t allowed out of the palace unless ordered by the King and Queen. Red highly doubted either one would be interested in books about curses and souls. That was something more up Gaster’s alley. Pity shot forth from him.

He raised his arms in a pacifying gesture and assured, “i’m not gonna tattle on ya if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“i have no idea what you’re talkin’ about.”

“look, i know you’re one of the new servants from Tale for the royal family but i promise i won’t get ya in trouble,” Red reassured. 

“sorry, bud, but _tibia-nest_ , it’s hard for me to take any promises from you fell monsters, no offense,” the Tale monster shrugged flippantly.

Red stared in shock before snickering, “heh, nice one.” 

He liked a monster that could appreciate puns, especially skeleton puns. Some of the tension in the other monster’s posture eased up.

“hey, i totally get that. but i really do mean it. after all, my bro just helped get your bro out of a shitty situation. now boss can watch over him whenever he’s there.” 

A hurt expression flickered past the skeleton’s face, so quickly that Red thought he’d imagined it, before morphing into a more relieved smile. 

“appreciate your bro helpin’ paps. ‘sides, always thought someone his own size, heh, would be better fit for it.” 

Even though the monster hid it well, Red picked out the bitterness in the comment and it caught him off-guard.

“so you’re his bro, huh? well it’s nice to meetcha,” the skeleton stood up and offered a hand, gazing intensely at Red. “name’s sans, sans the skeleton.”

Red knew this monster was Judging him, and he allowed it. After all, he couldn’t let Boss have all the fun. Any opportunity he got to screw over his old man, he would take, especially if it also meant helping out this monster. 

The skeleton from the Fell Kingdom grasped the offered hand and shook it.

“call me red.” 

He gave a right eyed wink and noted, with smug satisfaction, that he was an inch taller than Sans. He had a good feeling the two of them would have many more meetings to come. He didn’t even need his prophetic dreams to tell him this fact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, my first time writing Fellcest, and I finally understand why some fans like it so much now. LOL. I had a blast with it. I also thought it would be a nice change of pace to have the UT!Bros with the relationship problems instead of the Fell!Bros.


	3. The Request

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a training session with Papyrus, Boss gets an odd request from Sans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some updates to this story. I've split this and the next chapter in two since it's getting way to long. Also, I've finally added the Non-con/Rape tag for this story. It won't occur until way later (like around ch8 or 9 if I follow my current outline). I've also removed the chapter length because I'm not entirely sure it'll be 10 chapters. It'll definitely be less than 15.

Several months have passed since the Tale Kingdom’s downfall. Pockets of rebellion surfaced throughout the Fell Kingdom from resistance groups formed by Tale citizens unhappy with their new rule. These minor uprisings were quickly and ruthlessly squashed by Captain Undyne of the Fell Royal Guard and her right hand skeleton, General Papyrus. With each subsequent failure, the resistance groups lost more and more supporters. 

During the last of these excursion, which Boss was absent from, Undyne had encountered a short lizard monster from Tale that she wouldn’t stop harping about. Boss usually tuned her out when they occurred. His own thoughts were often preoccupied by his nicer counterpart. He’d kept his words and met with Papyrus immediately after his mission and report to King Asgore. Boss found his double almost unbearably naive, though not stupid, thankfully. Despite their nearly opposite personalities, he found himself immensely enjoying the nicer monster’s presence. It helped that Papyrus was a strong fighter and had the fortitude to keep going even after experiencing failure or loss, as evident with how their secret training session was currently proceeding.

Boss swung his bone sword in front of him to parry a swing from Papyrus’s staff and followed through with a lunge to increase his distance back towards his opponent. Boss spotted a weakness in the other monster’s defense and struck at his left shoulder. Papyrus staggered back a few steps but still managed to just barely block Boss’s next attack. The Fell skeleton swung his body around, catching Papyrus unawares and knocking him onto the ground. He pointed the tip of his sword at Papyrus’s neck.

“Nice work but you have some weak openings that enemies can exploit. With some more practice, your form can easily be improved,” Boss commended.

“REALLY? I THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR TRAINING!” The other Papyrus practically glowed with happiness, mouth curling into a wide, toothy grin. Boss almost thought he saw stars glittering in the other skeleton’s eyes.

Since becoming his personal servant, Boss had begun secretly training Papyrus. He recognized the potential that Papyrus had and wasn’t about to let it go to waste. He could only imagine what the Tale monster would bring if he joined the Royal Guard with his abilities, though his disposition was entirely too unsuited for it. That didn’t stop the general, and it provided him with some stimulation whenever he came to the Royal Palace. It actually made his visits there enjoyable and was something he almost looked forwards to.

When the two of them weren’t sparring, Papyrus spent most of his time tending to his chores. He made some spaghetti when Boss first arrived, and it definitely had a unique, burnt taste. Boss also saw, what seemed like, sprinkles. The Tale skeleton was extremely chatty, divulging how he was adjusting to life in Fell, working for the Royal Family and trying to become friends with the other servants and the human child, Chara. 

The one thing Papyrus never mentioned more to Boss was his brother. He didn’t know if something had happened between them but he hasn’t heard a single word about the short magician since Papyrus had become his personal servant. The general found it very strange and slightly concerning. And it was clearly having an effect on Papyrus. Sometimes, Boss would catch a fleeting grimace of pain flash across the Tale monster’s face, and his normally excitable demeanor would become subdued and almost sad. 

“Papyrus, how is your brother doing? You haven’t spoken of him in quite some time.”

Boss’s sockets narrowed as he saw it again. A wince of pain followed by a sad droop in the other skeleton’s sockets. 

“HE… SANS HAS BEEN FINE… WE DON’T SEE EACH OTHER MUCH.”

Bone brows raised in inquiry, Boss hoped to get more than this. There had to be more to the story. “You spoke much of him when we first met. Now you barely do. Did something happen?”

Papyrus shook his head cheerlessly, “WE HAVE DECIDED TO… TO SPEND SOME TIME APART.” He directed his eyes at the ground.

Boss was caught off guard by the answer. He had always thought they would be there to support each other, given their love for one another. Had he misjudged them? Did becoming servants to Fell Kingdom’s royal family ruin that bond? Had he ruined the love these two brothers had for each other by suggesting them to become servants?

“Spend time apart? Did you two have a fight?”

“NO, NOTHING LIKE THAT. THINGS HAVE JUST BECOME… MORE DIFFICULT. BUT DO NOT WORRY, THE GREAT PAPYRUS AND HIS BR—” another flinch from Papyrus. “AND SANS WILL BE FINE! IT’S NOTHING SERIOUS!”

Boss didn’t believe it for a second, despite how hard Papyrus tried to make it sound convincing. He simply wasn’t a very good liar with the way his eyes darted to the side or the ground. He wasn’t going to press further, though, realizing that it wasn’t really his business to sort the two brothers’ problems. It would be too suspicious if some other monster saw him helping this Tale monster. It was one of the reasons why they always trained secretly in this secluded area. Still, Boss felt a compulsion to help these two. 

He dispersed his bone weapon and settled a gauntlet-wearing hand on Papyrus’s shoulder, “Hm, just know that if there is anything troubling you, let me know.”

Papyrus brightened, and suddenly embraced Boss, “THANK YOU! YOU ARE MUCH KINDER THAN THE RUMORS SAY ABOUT YOU! BUT YOU ARE A PAPYRUS AFTER ALL, AND ALL PAPYRUSES ARE THE GREATEST, NYEH HEH HEH!”

Boss froze, not expecting such overt gratitude or even something as intimate as a hug. Despite how secluded they were, it was still in public, and there could always be spies. Boss roughly pulled away from the hug, feeling strangely cold once out of Papyrus’s arms. 

“What did I tell you about showing kindness and affection in public?” the Royal Guard general hissed. 

Papyrus shrunk away immediately. The despondent expression on his features sent an unexpected burst of guilt into Boss’s soul.

“I apologize if I sounded too harsh. I only meant it as a means to stay safe and not be used against us,” Boss explained evenly. 

The beaming smile was back on the Tale skeleton’s face, “YES, I UNDERSTAND! I SHALL BE SNEAKY LIKE A THIEF NEXT TIME, NYEH HEH HEH!”

The corners of Boss’s mouth curled slightly upwards into an amused smirk. The two lanky skeletons began their journey back to palace, marching through the worn dirt path. Since they all lived underground, dusk didn’t exist. It was difficult to discern when night exactly fell, but it was getting late. About halfway through the forest, Boss had the strange sensation of being watched and the tinglings of magic. He peered around the surrounding trees but could not spot the spy, though he had an idea of who it was. 

Once the two of them reached the front entrance of the palace, Boss tilted his head in acknowledgement and made his way back deep into the forest. He arrived back at the location he and Papyus had practiced earlier and was not surprised to find a short, cloaked figure waiting for him. 

“So it was you,” Boss stated.

The mystery monster uncovered the hood of the cloak to reveal Papyrus’s brother, the other Sans. The smaller skeleton didn’t appear shocked or afraid that he’d been found out. In fact, he had a relieved and almost wistful expression on his face. He also looked worse than last time with deep bags of exhaustion under his eye sockets.

“shoulda known you’d be able to pick me out. guess you _saw right through me, heh_.” Despite the light tone, Sans’s smile was tight, forced. 

Boss, ignoring the stealth pun that resembled the ones his brother would spout, wondered how much he actually saw of their meeting and why it took him so long to pick up the shorter monster’s signature. 

“You’re lucky I didn’t report or punish you for eavesdropping. It is normally a serious offense for a servant such as yourself,” Boss warned. 

Sans winced in response and gave a weak shrug, “wanted to make sure pap was ok. guess i was just worrying over nothin’.”

“Did something happen between you and your brother? I do not see you two together often anymore.” Boss repeated the earlier question.

The short magician didn’t respond for a long time. Then he replied softly, “it’s complicated. besides, wasn’t it you that said to not be too obvious.”

Yes, he had mentioned that to them at the beginning. However, it wasn’t meant to lead to this. Boss would’ve been annoyed at this Sans if it were not for the tinge of guilt that he felt.

“anyways, ‘m glad he has you watchin’ after him since i can’t.”

The general couldn’t help the surge of pity that washed over him. Despite whatever happened between the two brothers, Sans clearly still cared and looked after Papyrus. It was a quality that Boss found commendable.

“He is quite an interesting monster with a lot of potential. It’s only too bad his merciful nature is ill-fitting for the Royal Guard. He would’ve made a great guardsman with his fighting skills.”

“heh, yeah, my bro’s the coolest.” 

The general noticed that Sans had his hands clenched tightly in the pockets of his cloak. Dim eye lights wavered in black sockets and the bags under them seemed to deepen. Sans was obviously not adapting as well as his brother. Boss wanted to say something to ease this Sans’s worries, wanted to provide some comforting words, but he was at a loss. His brother was usually better with words. A beat of silence fell between them.

“y’know, i didn’t have the best impression of ya when we first met but turns out you’re a pretty swell guy… for a fell monster.” Boss was only slightly offended by Sans’s (rather backhanded) compliment. Sans took in a deep breath and gazed directly at him, his white pinpricks of light brightening with resolve. “which is why i have an important favor to ask of ya, if possible.”

Boss crossed his arms in front of him and gave Sans an intrigued yet hard look, “Depending on what it is, I’ll decide whether it’ll be worth my time and effort.”

“get paps out of this place with any means possible.”

The Royal Guardsman’s mind faltered at the request and stared at the small magician in shock. It took a minute for him to recollect his thoughts. Is there something occurring without his knowledge?

“Why? He seems to be adjusting fine here. And I can protect him here as my servant.”

“he can’t stay here. please take him away,” Sans pleaded, “that royal magician… he’s developed an interest in paps. it’s too dangerous for him to say here.” 

Of course that bastard would. Boss clicked his teeth in frustration, fury bursting within him like a shaken bottle and consuming his soul. If he had more power, he would do everything to dispose of that revolting magician. With him being the crux of the Tale brothers’ problem, he would gladly lend a hand, if only to spite that bastard back.

“You realize what you’re asking could be trialed for treason. If anything goes wrong or the King hears of this, your life will be on the line.”

“it’s a risk that i’m willing to take.” Sans declared with conviction, gazing resolutely at the Fell general. 

“But what about you? Gaster still has an interest in you, correct?” Boss noticed the slight flinch from the small skeleton.

“nope, it’s all good. i could handle that old pile of bones.”

Boss remained unconvinced, deepening the scowl on his face.

“look, pap likes and trusts you. if you could please take him away and keep him safe and hidden from here, it would mean the world to me.”

The expression in this Sans’s eyes was so similar to the one he’d seen in his own brother’s all those years ago. The same one his brother had when he’d wanted to move away from New Fell Home to Snowdin, to move away from Gaster. His answer had been decided then.

“I will help you but you’ll be away from your brother.”

Sans shrugged half-heartedly and gave a tight smile, “i’m sure he’ll be happier stayin’ with you.”

“You know that is not true! Give your brother some more credit! He loves you!” Boss countered. “Besides, it’s possible to love more than one monster.”

The magic user from Tale gaped at him with a dumbstruck expression before bursting into a low, rumbling chuckle.

“What is so funny?!” The Royal Guard general growled, a twitch of irritation in his bone brows. 

“sorry, sorry, just didn’t expect that, is all,” Sans placated and held out his left arm. “you’re really not what i expected. thanks.”

It took a few seconds for Boss to realize his gesture was for a handshake, which he took. 

_PPPHHHHTTTTT!_ A puff of sparkling smoke erupted between them. Boss squawked indignantly. When it cleared away, Sans stood there with a mischievous grin, eye lights brighter than before, almost twinkling. 

“Your sense of humor is just as terrible as my brother’s,” the general sighed with exasperation but felt his mood lift. He withdrew his hand from the smaller skeleton’s. “I will speak with my brother about this and let you know of our plan.”

“uh, the less details i know of the plan, the better. just give me a heads up on when you’ll do it so i could prepare myself.”

Now this Boss found suspicious. How would this work at all if this Sans didn’t know their plan? It didn’t make any sense. But before he could ask, the sound of a loud horn echoed around them. They both tensed. The horn was only blown when the King had an important announcement to make, one that everyone working for the Royal Family must attend.

“You should head back. It wouldn’t be good for you to get caught out here.”

Sans gave a nod of thanks and disappeared from where he stood, startling the Fell monster. He peered around the vicinity but found no signs of the short magician. 

So he could teleport to places just like his brother, Boss thought to himself, as he made his way back to the palace to hear the announcement. It turned out there would be a grand feast next week in honor of the Royal Magician’s new discovery, which will be revealed during that time. He blanched at the announcement and left for Snowdin soon afterwards. 

When he got home, he found his brother passed out on the couch. An annoyed huff escaped from his mouth as he went to prepare dinner, mind wandering back to his meeting with both Tale brothers. They had both been… invigorating to say the least. Being with Papyrus was like taking a deep breath of fresh morning air, while his encounter with the elder brother was unexpected. He truly admired Sans’s dedication to his brother, and had decided he would do anything within his power to help those two brothers. He would need Red’s input for this request. Although he was renown for his battlefield strategies, when it came to shrewd planning, Red was the better monster. With dinner completed, he went to collect his brother.

“WAKE UP, YOU LAZYBONES!” Boss roared, directing a kick at the couch. 

Red shot up from his prone position and searched groggily around, drool trailing down the corner of his mouth. Boss huffed in distaste before seizing his brother around the middle by his right arm and lugging him into the kitchen as if he were a sack of potatoes.

“What am I going to do with you,” the general muttered under his breath. 

His brother seemed to have finally woken up. “heya boss. how’s everythin in new fell home?”

Boss plopped Red unceremoniously into the wooden chair and sat down opposite of him. Two steaming bowls of porridge sat in front of them. 

“I’ve received an interesting request from Sans today.”

His brother perked up at the mention of his Tale counterpart. Ever since their first meeting at the library, his brother seemed to have taken an interest in Sans, which was good in this case. His brother’s laziness prevented him from helping out any monster unless he liked them.

“what is it? bet it’s crazy.”

“He wants me, us, to get his brother out. It seems Gaster has picked up an interest in him.”

Red shivered with disgust and gave Boss a worried look, “that’s bad. what about sans? are we gettin’ him outta there too? that shitty bastard’s usin’ him, and i don’t need any stupid dreams t’tell me that. nobody reads books on souls and curses for fun.”

The tall skeleton frowned deeply at this new information. He had a feeling that Sans wasn’t answering his questions truthfully, and it concerned him. But he had already decided that he would help so he wasn’t about to back out now.

“anyways, i’ll talk some sense into him next time i see him. you got any plans on how we’re gonna do this, boss?”

“Either we do this discretely but then it’ll put everyone on high alert and on search for him. Or…” the idea was one that he didn’t prefer to use but it was the best way to ensure a monster’s safety in the Fell Kingdom. 

Red caught on immediately, eye lights blinking out and whispered, “or we do it in a way that they won’t bother to look for him, yeah? make him disappear in a puff of dust.”

The younger skeleton nodded curtly, “We should do it next week. There’s a feast taking place where Gaster is presenting some ‘new discovery’. That would be the best time to do it.”

“alright, give me a few days to plan and i’ll give ‘em a show they won’t forget.” Red gave a sinister smile full of teeth. 

Boss couldn’t help but worry that something would go wrong. But to ensure Papyrus’s safety and take on Sans’s request, he would go through with it.


	4. The Hole in the Ceiling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an unpleasant night with Gaster, Sans meets Red again, and they spend some quality time together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is now being beta-read by the wonderful [undertailsoulsex](https://archiveofourown.org/users/undertailsoulsex/works). Thank you for all your helpful suggestions this chapter! :]

Sans stood waiting in the deepest part of the Royal Palace. The enclosure was spacious, the walls and floor lined with large, smooth gray stones. The chilly air cut into his bones like a knife. If he didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought this was the old dungeons.

Shelves lined the left side of the room and were teeming with various size bottles. Some contained oddly colored liquids, while others contained herbs, fine powders, and parts of dead animals. A worn, brown desk sat beneath the shelves. The other side of the room, in contrast, was bare except for a large cage, and immediately etched into the ground below it, a circular inscription with various symbols. 

Sans was quite familiar with this room, given that he had come here every night for the past two weeks, ever since that accursed spell had been placed on him and his brother. Most of the denizens of the palace considered it to be the Royal Magician’s office; in reality, it was the place where Gaster performed all his magical experiments. Sans detested this room and the untold horrors it held.

The door swung open, a grating groan echoing from the ancient, rusty hinges. The tall magician swept into the room, his dark robes billowing behind him. There was a certain hungry twinkle in Gaster’s eye lights that sent dread to Sans’s soul.

“Tell me, Sans, what do you know about Determination?” Gaster withdrew a vial of red liquid from a pouch hanging on his waist. 

“uh, nothin’ good. that’s a line of magic i don't touch,” the shorter magician answered curtly. 

Sans was not liking where this was going. Not many monsters knew about the powers of Determination. He only briefly read about its power long ago. With enough of it, determination allowed the user to come back from death again and again. Monsters didn't have a lot of it, but humans did naturally. Despite this, most humans lacked the amount necessary to come back from the dead.

“That's disappointing,” Gaster tsked. “You know what it can do, correct?” Sans barely gave a nod in acknowledgement. “Have you ever wondered what would happen if we gave a monster Determination?”

Silence settled in the room. Sans’s breath halted at the implications of Gaster’s words.

Gaster continued in the same clinical voice, “Not just any monster, but to those who have already died.”

“this is crazy, gaster. where did you even get that?” Sans eyed the vial of Determination with revulsion.

The Magician smiled snidely. “I have my ways. You need not worry about it.”

“this ain't right. i can't agree to something like that!” Sans spat, eye lights blinking out.

“Well, thankfully, you’ll help me with this next experiment, won't you, my dear apprentice?” Sans involuntarily shuddered at the moniker. “After all, you don't really have a _choice_ , do you now? You will help me with this, won’t you?”

Sans glowered at Gaster, his white pinpricks blinking back in his sockets. He felt the effects of the order take hold of his entire being.

 _Choice_ , his command word, was particularly cruel, giving the illusion that he actually had the power to decline. Whatever the intent behind the speaker’s demand, that was what he had to follow, even if it were phrased like he had another option. As he had quickly realized, the speaker’s intent had more weight than the phrasing. And because of this, he now had to participate in whatever sick experiments this magician desired. 

Gaster took several strides to the inscribed magic circle and moved the empty cage. He brought out a jar the size of his hand that was filled halfway with gray powder. 

Dust. It was monster dust. 

A chill shot down Sans’s spine. The Royal Magician poured the substance onto the circle.

“This belongs to a servant that died three days ago from an unfortunate hunting accident. The poor rabbit stood no chance.” Gaster’s tone lacked any sort of actual regret. “Perhaps he deserves another chance, wouldn’t you agree?”

Sans chose to remain silent. Better not to say anything than get punished for the disparaging remarks that threatened to come out of his mouth.

“Come watch, Sans, we are about to change the world!”

The short skeleton didn't move, not wanting any part of this. Gaster whipped his head around and leered at Sans, his teeth curled into an angry scowl.

“Come here! This isn't a _choice!_ ” he snapped. 

The threads bound around Sans’s soul constricted, and the compulsion to follow the command forced him to step forward until he stood next to Gaster. The taller monster poured approximately half the liquid Determination onto the pile of dust. Nothing happened for several seconds, and Sans prayed that it would remain so. Eventually, the crimson light consumed the pile of dust. The amalgamation of gray powder shifted and grew, morphing into the shape of a medium-sized bipedal rabbit monster. 

The revived monster released a distorted roar. Sans Checked the monster. 

No soul. This monster had no soul. 

This meant bad news. How would a monster, running only on Determination, act without a soul?

As if the monster sensed his question, it turned its head towards him. Sans took several steps back as the undead being emitted another bone-chilling cry and sprang towards him. Cursing loudly, Gaster swiftly summoned two large glowing hands, each with a hole at its center. They seized the snarling monster, and as it struggled to escape, the monster’s form wavered before collapsing like a falling tower. 

_Drip. Drip._

Thick globs of a white substance plopped onto the stone ground. Sans watched in horror as the monster collapsed into itself, as if it were melting. More white liquid collected on the floor, the creature rapidly losing its solid shape. All the while, the piercing wails continued. Before long, the undead rabbit monster was nothing but a formless puddle.

A puddle of liquid dust.

“Consider that a failure,” Gaster intoned coolly after a beat of silence. “I will use less next time.”

Sans gawked at the Royal Magician and shook in a mix of disgust and fear. This man was crazy, utterly crazy, to be using this sort of terrible magic. This was necromancy, a branch of magic that had largely been forgotten. And for the better. Necromancy had been banned ages ago, and it was just as illegal as the forbidden soul curse Gaster had placed on Sans.

Sans shrank back when Gaster directed his attention back to him. There was an excited gleam in his eyes, one that flooded Sans’s soul with dread.

“That will be all for tonight. You may leave.” 

Sans didn’t need to be told twice. He rushed to the door and fumbled to get it open. Just as he turned the handle, the constriction around his soul tightened.

“I trust that you would make the right _choice_ and not speak a word of this to anyone, no monster, no human, no living or nonliving being. Do you agree, Sans?” 

Gaster’s light tone was mere pretense, as Sans felt a familiar pressure within his soul. One more on his growing lists of orders. 

“yeah, yeah, whatever you say, _your majesty_ ,” Sans answered, the last two words dripping with sarcasm.

“Hm, no matter how you say it now, it’ll be good practice to call me as such, wouldn’t you say?” 

Sans chose to not respond. The implications behind Gaster’s words had him shivering.

He made his way back to the servant’s quarters in record time, praying that Papyrus wanted his bedtime story. Ever since his brother had become Boss’s servant, the two of them barely interacted., And lately, Papyrus even declined his routine bedtime stories. Sans tried to not take it personally, but it left his nights almost unbearably lonely. After the horrible mess he’d just seen, he yearned for his brother’s warm hugs and encouraging words.

Much to his disappointment, Papyrus was already asleep. He should just accept that Papyrus didn’t need his bedtime stories anymore. Sans crept up to his brother’s bed, gazing longingly at his peaceful face. He raised a left hand to stroke it, but abruptly stopped. He couldn’t disturb Papyrus.

Sans sighed heavily, withdrew his arm, and dragged himself into his own cot. He wondered how and why his relationship with Papyrus had gotten so distant. Well, he knew why. He just didn’t want to admit it. Boss spent so much more time with his brother than Sans was able to. But he didn’t _want_ to be jealous. The general was doing everything to help them, after all. And Papyrus even stopped wearing the scarf he'd made him.

_“JUST KNOW, BROTHER, THAT EVEN IF ANOTHER MONSTER CATCHES MY INTEREST, MY LOVE FOR YOU WILL ALWAYS BE THE GREATEST!”_

Whatever happened to that, Papyrus? 

Sans turned around to face the white wall. He tried not to think of the puddle that used to be a servant, or the image of its melting form crying out in distress. Eventually he fell into a fitful sleep, his dreams filled with formless, white undead monsters and Gaster’s face-splitting grin.

The following evening, after his chores were completed and he had eaten supper, Sans decided to take a shortcut to the Librarby. Even though it was a large distance away from the Capital, New Fell Home, his teleportation magic got him there within seconds. Sans was glad that no one except his brother and Frisk knew about this skill. It allowed him to leave the palace whenever he wanted. He’d even tried to bring Papyrus with him a few times but he always declined, stating that “THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS A RULE-ABIDING SKELETON!” At the thought of his brother, who must’ve gotten up early and left before he had awoken, a pang shot through his chest.

Deciding to distract himself from his intrusive thoughts, Sans strolled between the shelves, stopping when he finally got to the section devoted to stars and space. As Ebott had mainly been an underground realm, he’d always been fascinated with the heavens. 

Nearly a hundred years ago, years before Sans had been born, a catastrophic war had taken place between humans and monsters. Although monster magic was powerful, human magic was even more so. The war had decimated the monsters, and they had fled underground as a safe haven. Now, the only way Ebott monsters could see the stars was to leave their underground home and find a way to the Surface where the humans resided. Few monsters, even those from Fell, wanted conflict with them, so they rarely ventured outside their home. 

Sans became so engrossed in his reading that he missed the soft, shuffling footsteps approaching him. Two hard knocks rang out behind him, followed by a gruff, “knock knock.”

Sans nearly dropped the book. The corners of his smiling teeth drooped ever-so-slightly when he recognized the voice as the same one that had disturbed him the last time he’d been here. Although they’d exchanged some hilarious jokes, and he had seen no ill intent from the other skeleton, Sans still didn’t completely trust this Fell monster.

“Knock knock," Red reiterated as he tapped his knuckles lightly against the bookshelf closest to where Sans sat.

“who’s there?” It was hard to pass up a potentially good knock knock joke.

“ya.”

“ya who?”

“wow, you sure are excited to see me, ain’t ya?” 

Sans continued to stare at his book, though a chuckle slipped from his mouth. He responded back, “heh, nice one. i got tons of knock knock jokes. a _skele-ton_. people say i’m a pretty _humerus_ guy and _ulna-ot_ disagree.”

Red guffawed loudly before drawing closer. Sans momentarily tensed, and finally met the other’s gaze. A suggestive smirk crept on up the slightly larger skeleton’s face.

“keep that up and you may give me a _boner_.”

This time, Sans did end up dropping his book. He tried to suppress the heat spreading quickly to his cheekbones, though it was no use. The provocative grin on Red’s face only grew. Well, two could play at this game.

“your _cock_ sure attitude is leavin’ me pretty _limp_.” 

Without missing a beat, Red responded, “you wanna bet on that, sweetheart? cuz i think you look a little hard.” The other gave him a quick squeeze of his right shoulder.

Sans’s entire head was burning. Was this monster flirting with him? For what reason? 

As if sensing his discomfort, Red let go and took a few steps back. His crimson eye lights fell upon the fallen book and a surprisingly gentle smile graced his rough features. Sans moved to pick up the tome, but the other skeleton beat him to it, swiping the book into his hands.

“you interested in seein’ stars then?”

Tired of this monster’s sexual innuendos, Sans rolled his eyes and made to get up.

“no, wait, heh, that’s not what i meant.” Red shrugged. “i meant do you wanna see the real stars? i can show ya a nice spot.”

“what? the crystals in waterfall? sorry, pal, but i already saw those.” What was this monster trying to achieve here?

“no, i mean a place to see the actual stars.” At Sans’s blank look, Red continued, “see, there’s a hole in the ruins of fell. a hole to the surface where ya can see the stars.”

This sounded way too suspicious. He didn’t know much about the Fell Kingdom, but given all his side research about stars and space, he’s never heard of this hole in the Ruins of Fell. 

“c’mon, sans, you can choose—” Sans flinched at the wording, so close to his command word. Red noticed and fell silent, peering intently at him. “you ok there?”

What if Red accidentally, unintentionally, forced him to do something he didn’t want? What would this Fell monster do if he found out about Gaster’s curse? He couldn’t imagine Red using it against him but he didn’t want to take any chances. All the more reason why he should remain on guard with the other. No need to make his situation worse than it already was. 

Sans’s mouth curled into a strained grin and said, “i’ll come, but this better be worth my time.”

Red huffed. “ya bet it will, sweetheart. hold on.”

Sans hesitantly grabbed the other’s shoulder, and he suddenly felt the familiar lurch and pull of teleportation. A bony hand grasped his own to prevent him from letting go. Seconds later, the two of them appeared in an enclosure surrounded by dark red, deteriorating walls that were broken by an enormous archway overgrown with vines.

“welcome to the deepest parts of the ruins of fell,” Red announced with a lazy sweep of his left arm. “just a few rooms ahead lies the best view of the stars. verified by myself.” He winked.

Sans followed the Fell skeleton, suspicion and anticipation wrestling for control within him. He was not expecting Red to know teleportation. What other talents did this Fell monster have?

“so, red, you make it a regular habit of appearing from thin air?” he asked casually.

“heh, yep. too much work t’ walk everywhere. don’t tell me ya don’t do it all the time either.” The scarred monster directed a sideways glance at Sans. 

Sans tried to remain calm despite the panic growing within him. How had this monster known? Red stopped walking and turned around, prompting Sans to take a step back. He was sorely tempted to disappear on the other monster. 

“wait,” Red declared, holding up an arm. “if you’re wonderin’ how i know that, it’s cuz i saw it in my dreams.”

“what?” 

“nobody knows i can do this except for boss, but ya deserve t’know. i can see future events in my dreams. it’s how i knew your kingdom was gonna fall to ours.” 

Sans peered into Red’s face, and saw no dishonesty in his expression. The wheels in Sans’s mind turned as he processed this information. This monster was some sort of seer? 

“i saw undyne killing you and your bro. heh, don’t know how anyone can stand to deal with that fish bitch. so i told boss your location so he would get t’ya first.”

Sans gaped, studying Red’s expression carefully. This sounded simply too bizarre, but he detected no deceit from the other monster. Dream seers were extremely rare, and although their visions were easily misinterpreted and not always reliable, their ability to see the future was greatly sought after.

It was unexpected for Red to entrust him with this information; he could easily let it slip and cause unimaginable problems. Gratitude burst within Sans at the kind gesture. 

“can you see anything?” Sans asked.

“not everythin’. _tibia-nest_ , my visions are random. some useful, some not.” The scarred monster gave a half-hearted shrug. “it was lucky that i saw you two in one of ‘em. guess we were destined t’meet.” Another suggestive smirk. 

Sans rolled his eye lights again. “nice try, pal, but you’re gonna hafta put more _backbone_ into it than that.”

The other monster snickered and the two of them continued north, walking side by side. A nagging question hung in Sans’s mind.

“why did you tell me something that i could potentially use against you? what happened to ‘kill or be killed’?”

Red shrugged once again. “no particular reason.”

From his voice, however, Sans suspected there was more to it than that. He decided to let it go and change the topic. Maybe if he got to know Red more, he’d spill the beans.

The remainder of the trek was amicable; the two of them bounced joke after joke off of each other. Red’s wisecracks became increasingly lewder until Sans stopped responding to them. As they lapsed into silence, Sans took the opportunity to survey his surroundings.

Tall pillars, eroded from years of neglect, stood at odd intervals, some of them clearly missing. Several rooms contained remnants of uncalibrated traps, such as unmoving spikes and uncovered holes. Sans even noted living quarters, spotted with broken beds, chairs, and tables, from the days long past. It must have been so long since any monsters had lived here.

“yeah, nobody’s lived in this place since monsters first settled down ‘ere,” Red explained as he saw Sans peer at the old homes. 

Yet somehow, nature hadn't claimed the buildings entirely.

“where is this place relative to everywhere else?” Sans asked.

“we’re pretty close to the fell capital. at least, closer to our snowdin.”

Sans nodded. The Ruins of Tale had been located on the opposite direction of Tale’s Capital. Hotland and Waterfall were Ebott’s two largest regions and had been shared between the Tale and Fell kingdom before their war. Yet each kingdom maintained their own Capital and Snowdin. It was surprising how much the two realms paralleled each other.

Some time later, Sans and Red finally arrived at their destination. The area was surrounded by the brown dirt of the underground instead of the deep red walls of the Ruins. A beam of silvery light shined down from a hole far above them. 

It was an opening. An opening to the Surface. 

From this distance, Sans could barely discern a midnight sky strewn with tiny white pinpricks of light. Still, he couldn’t believe it. He drew closer to the hole, desperate for a better view, and tilted his skull so much that his neck creaked loudly. A hand with sharpened phalanges caught his own.

“c’mon, there’s a better view a bit higher,” Red’s gruff voice whispered.

A sudden lurch later, and he found himself standing on an elevated ledge stretched out from the underground walls. 

“you should’ve just brought us here in the first place,” Sans remarked blandly.

“but then we wouldn’t’ve expanded our repertoire of jokes,” the other countered with a teasing grin.

“heh, true.”

Sans noticed they weren’t even close to the hole, but true to Red’s words, the view was spectacular. The full moon hung in the inky sky. Stars scattered across the black blanket like a messy splash of glitter.

“whoa,” Sans breathed, completely enraptured by the scene.

Red sat onto the ground, cross-legged with his back against the wall. He patted at the dirt next to him. Sans took a seat without a thought and resumed his stargazing.

For the first time since the fall of Tale, peace settled within his soul. His trouble washed away and only wonder pervaded his mind. He took a quick glance at Red as the rough skeleton gazed at the world above them with a tenderness and reverence that took Sans’s breath away.

“y’know, boss told me of your request to take your bro from the palace,” the Fell monster suddenly said.

Sans tensed.

“i told ‘im i would help ya.” Ruby eye lights met his own. “but do ya trust me? or at least trust us enough to believe that we’ll help ya?”

Sans found he couldn’t lie to Red and answered softly, “what other options do i have? you two are the best bet. i’ll support anything you do, as long as pap is safe.”

Red gave a nod. “well i swear on my soul that we’ll get yer brother outta there any way we can. and we’ll find a way t’get you outta there as well.”

A strange fluttering filled his chest. He wanted so badly to believe in those words, but even if that were the case, he and his brother weren’t truly free until they found a way to break Gaster’s curse. If he escaped with the Fell brothers, no doubt Gaster would search everywhere for him. Gaster probably didn’t even need to look that hard. With only a few deliberate words, Sans would be scurrying back to the Royal Magician like a trained dog. It was better to keep Gaster distracted and as far away from his brother as possible. He still had yet to figure out Papyrus’s command word.

At the thought of the Royal Magician, Sans felt himself grow cold. As if shocked by an electric current, he suddenly stood up and peered around frantically, earning a puzzled expression from Red.

“wha’sthamatter?”

“how long have we been here? what time is it?” He had to get back to the palace. If he was late to his daily secret meetings with Gaster, or, stars above, if he missed the meeting entirely, then everything would fall apart. “i have to get back. there’s... i just remembered some chores i forgot to do.”

Suspicion marred Red’s features but before he could get a word out of his mouth, Sans pictured the cramped cupboard of the servant’s quarters, took ahold of his magic, and disappeared. Once he confirmed that the coast was clear, he walked out of the small storage space. He exhaled deeply before quickly making his way to Gaster’s office, trying to ignore the guilt gnawing at his soul for leaving Red like that. 

Maybe it was better this way. The less involved he was with the other skeleton, the better. Though Sans had to admit that he had actually enjoyed their time together. 

After dusting off any evidence of his most recent escapade, Sans steeled himself for another unpleasant evening with the Royal Magician.


	5. The Deceit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unbeknownst to Sans and Papyrus, the Fell bros set their plan in motion, and it leads to some unsuspected consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thanks to undertailsoulsex for beta-ing this chapter. If you want or need a beta-reader for your fics, I highly recommend their services. They are wonderful! Their tumblr has more info.

That evening Gaster used a quarter less Determination for the experiment, and the reanimated monster stayed solid for a few hours. To make sure they wouldn’t get attacked again, Gaster revived the monster in the locked cage. In the end, it still resulted in a white puddle, though it was thicker in consistency than the rabbit monster from before. Sans left Gaster’s study feeling sick to his nonexistent stomach. 

He arrived in his room to find his brother awake, staring at the ceiling. Papyrus sprang up as soon as he caught sight of Sans and held out his favorite childhood bedtime story, _Fluffy Bunny and the Big Bad Wolf._

“I KNOW I HAVEN’T ASKED FOR THIS FOR QUITE SOME TIME, SANS, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO CONTINUE WITH THE BEDTIME STORIES.” There was a uncertainty in Papyrus’s tone, but Sans was too elated to care.

“sure, bro.” 

Sans grabbed the book and moved to settle into his brother’s cot. Papyrus immediately recoiled, prompting Sans to draw back in return. Not wanting to deal with anything else like that, Sans ended up pulling a chair next to the bed. He sat down in it, returning to the story and trying his best to ignore the gnawing pain growing in his soul.

For the next three days, the bedtime story routine continued. Sans happily obliged, savoring every bit of time he spent with his brother. But there was a certain hesitation in Papyrus’s actions, and every time Sans touched him, a pained expression flitted across his face. At first, Sans didn’t press him about it. He was all too eager to spend time with his brother. But one night, when his brother flinched away from his touch for the fourth time in the last three days, he could handle it no longer. Sans shot him an inquiring look.

“IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT, BRO—” A grimace. “SANS.”

“you sure?” Another pained look flashed across his younger sibling’s face.

“PLEASE DO NOT WORRY YOURSELF ABOUT ME! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” 

And that was the extent of their interaction. Not wanting to cause any further discomfort for his brother, Sans kept his hands to himself and tried to emotionally distance himself. At times, Sans wanted to ask if Papyrus even loved him anymore. But he never did. 

He was frightened of the answer he’d receive. 

The daily experiments with Gaster continued until, finally, two nights before the grand feast, Gaster discovered the secret to a successful resurrection. It only took three drops of Determination. Three tiny droplets, and the revived wolf monster, locked in its cage, remained solid the whole night. 

“The King will be most pleased to see our success. Aren’t you excited, Sans? What we’re about to show the kingdom is an advancement in magic like no other!”

Sans wouldn’t call this an advancement. No matter how Gaster tried to spin it, in the end, the art of reviving the dead was still necromancy. That was no advancement, but a dark step backward. The only benefit from the successful resurrection was that Gaster gave Sans the next night off. He took the opportunity to spend some time with Frisk; it had been awhile since his last visit. 

When he arrived at the west wing of the palace, he found the kid preparing a basin of warm water just outside Chara’s bedroom. 

“ _water_ ya up to, kiddo?”

To his disappointment, Frisk didn’t respond to his joke. They merely shook their head wearily and pointed at Chara’s bedroom. Through the closed door, Sans could hear Toriel’s deep, soothing voice muttering reassurances to the Fell child.

‘Chara fell ill four nights ago. The Queen and I are taking care of them,’ Frisk signed.

“the queen treatin’ you ok, kid?” His voice was tinged with concern.

‘She’s not as open or warm as Mom, but she cares a lot about children. Probably even more so than Mom. It’s actually kind of scary.’ 

Heavy footsteps approached the hall. Before Sans could take his leave, the door swung open. The Queen’s fierce red eyes bore down at him, and he took several steps back from her intense gaze. Her face softened when Frisk brought the water basin to her. 

“Come, child.”

A furry gray paw settled gently on Frisk’s shoulder and guided them back inside the room. The Queen’s eyes met his once more.

“If you’re not here to help my child, it would be best for you to leave.” There was a dangerous edge to her tone.

“sorry, your majesty. didn’t mean to get your _goat_.” 

Sans flinched as the Queen’s eyes narrowed. 

“I ought to have your limbs removed from your body for a day for making such a joke while my child is ill.” 

Trying to save face, Sans bowed deeply and blurted out, “sorry.”

The Queen tutted.

Desperate to make it up to her, he intoned, “if imbued with magic and used early enough, echinacea leaves can aid in shortening illness and fever. it’s too late now, but i could make some for you for next time.”

The Queen held her glare for several soul-clenching seconds before her gaze softened faintly. 

“I will take you up on that offer. But you had better deliver or else I will make you wish for death.”

Sans didn’t make many promises, but this was a simple enough one he could keep.

“i promise to get it to you within two weeks.”

The towering goat monster nodded and retreated into her child’s room. 

Sans let out a relieved sigh. That had been a close call. With an herbal formula to search for, he returned to the Librarby. In the deep recesses of his mind, he had hoped to see Red there. But the other monster never came. 

Though he was pleased to find the information on the potion, his soul was as heavy as stone. With no reason to stay longer, Sans decided to turn in early. He fell asleep dreaming of stargazing with Red, his brother and Boss sparring on the training grounds, and Papyrus embracing Sans in his loving arms.

On the day of the grand feast, Sans had to drag himself out of bed. He, for once, did his servant duties diligently and with minimum pranks; any mistakes would result in severe punishments. As the meal, and subsequently, Gaster’s demonstration drew closer, uneasiness settled into him. He had a distinct foreboding that something was going to go wrong. And horribly so.

Monsters from all over the Fell Kingdom huddled inside the palace’s grand ballroom. Queen Toriel came and went, most likely tending to Chara upstairs, while King Asgore sauntered around, greeting the neighboring lords. The Royal Guards kept a watchful eye over the crowd, prepared for any trouble. Captain Undyne and Boss continually patrolled the room, their presence keeping the Guards on their toes. As the General walked by Sans, he nodded in acknowledgement. 

To Sans’s disappointment, the only monster who didn’t show up was Red. He had fully expected the monster to attend such a high-profile event. And Red had to have known that Sans would be there. Had he offended the other skeleton by bailing on him at the Ruins of Fell? He wouldn’t blame Red if that were the case.

Sans wandered back and forth between the kitchen, the hallways, and grand ballroom, bringing snacks and drinks to the guests. It was so busy, he didn’t even have a chance to speak with anyone. He watched with disappointment as Frisk left early to help Queen Toriel take care of Chara. Happiness arose within him when he saw his brother wearing the red scarf again. Sans tried his best to ignore the Fell monsters’ curious whispers and noisy chatter. Several of the guests had shot him looks of disdain throughout the evening.

Ten minutes left before the scheduled demonstration and the Royal Magician still hadn't shown up. Sans thought nothing of it; Gaster was likely preparing downstairs in his workspace.

It was then, as Sans wandered around the far wall of the room that a loud bang rang out from the front entrance of the royal palace, immediately followed by shrieks of terror. While Sans stumbled, unable to process what was going on, Undyne and Boss sprang into action. 

In a matter of seconds, Undyne rushed to the King, her magic spears already summoned to protect him. Boss, taking on the commander’s role, directed his guardsmen to block the doors. As his orders sounded through the room, a dense, gray smoke blanketed the crowd. Monsters screamed and mindlessly stampeded throughout the ballroom, shoving each other with no regards to safety. 

Sans ran through the smoke, using his magic to push the fog away as he frantically searched for any sign of his brother. As he floundered through the chaos, three dark silhouettes dashed past him in a blink of an eye. Through the darkness, he couldn’t make out their faces; all he could tell was that one was much shorter than the other two. One of the taller silhouettes ran headlong in Undyne’s direction, while the other two went straight past him, disappearing into the thick smoke.

Fear gripped Sans’s soul, and he called out, “pap?! where are you?! papyrus?!”

“THE CANINE UNIT IS TO REMAIN STATIONED AT THE DOORS!” Boss’s brusque voice echoed. “DO NOT LET THEM ESCAPE!”

Sans followed the General’s voice, hopeful that Papyrus would be with him. 

“hey, have you seen my bro?” Sans burst out as soon as he reached the taller skeleton. 

A tinge of concern flickered on Boss’s skull. “HE WAS WITH ME EARLIER. I DO NOT KNOW WHERE HE RAN OFF TO WITH THIS CHAOS.”

Sans was about to reprimand him for leaving Papyrus unprotected when he heard it: his brother’s familiar scream followed by a deafening explosion.

For a moment, Sans froze, his mind too stunned to act. But as soon as he processed the sound, he sprinted in its direction. He felt a strong pulse of magic that he could only assume came from the Royal Magician himself. As the spell crackled, a gust of wind blew through the ballroom and out of the front entrance, clearing out all traces of the smoke. With the area clear, Sans saw servants and guests running around the hall like chickens with their heads cut off. Their vision finally unobstructed, they rushed towards the doors, desperate to escape.

Sans shoved his way quickly towards where he’d heard his brother’s scream, and when he finally made it —

There was no way… absolutely no way.

His soul seized as his eyes fell upon the pile of dust lying on the ground. He stood there, rooted to the spot, sockets completely dark, as gasps and screams filled the great hall. Everything seemed to disappear, and only that gray pile remained. 

Monster dust. Lying in the spot where he’d heard his brother’s scream. 

Denial and disbelief surfaced within him first, but as he stepped closer, he recognized the familiar red scarf that he had given his brother as a babybones. The one his brother had chosen to wear today. A mix of shock and searing agony shot through him at the loss of his brother.

Out of the corner of Sans’s eye, he saw a monster move towards the powder. Like a wind-up toy, he jolted towards his brother’s dust and crouched over it, blocking anyone from laying a hand on it.

“ **None of you touch this!** ” Sans warned in a deep, throaty voice, not caring that he was stepping way over the line, giving orders when he was a mere servant. 

His brother was dead. He’d promised to always protect and take care of him.

His bones grew cold as Gaster’s familiar footsteps approached. He glowered up at the Royal Magician, catching the excited glint in his sockets. 

“ **You, especially, will stay away!”**

All around him, monsters’ faces contorted with shock, including those of the King and both heads of the Royal Guard. Cries of outrage and disparaging comments such as “unmannered servant”, “he needs to be punished”, “a disgraceful stain to the Royal Family” filled the area, but Sans didn’t care. All that mattered was keeping Gaster’s wretched hands away from his brother’s dust. He refused to allow this despicable monster to experiment with Papyrus’s remains. 

“Now, now,” the Royal Magician said in a falsely sweet tone, holding up both arms in a placating manner. “I’m sure the poor servant is simply in shock. Of course it would be preferable if he stepped away and gave up that dust to me by his own choice.”

Sans tried, with every bone in his body, to remain huddled over the gray powder. But with every second of delay in following the command, the searing pain in his soul only grew worse, as if someone were trying to tear it in half. With a sharp gasp, he stood up and stepped away, catching quite a number of monsters off guard. He spotted Boss’s widening eyes in his peripheral vision.

Sans watched helplessly as the Royal Magician took a step towards Papyrus’s dust. 

“No, I will take it!” Boss suddenly interrupted, stepping forward imposingly. “He was my servant, after all. I deserve to have it.”

A look of rage flickered in Gaster’s skeletal face.

Before he could refute the suggestion, however, the King answered, “That is fair, General.” The goal king turned to face the other servants. “See to it that the dust is collected and given to General Papyrus.” Asgore then leveled Sans with a furious glare. “See to it that this servant is taught a lesson in speaking out of line. Perhaps spending some time in the dungeons will teach you not to speak with such disrespect.” 

Sans let the guards drag him away without resistance, watching dully as Boss’s features flitted with... pity? Regret? Sans didn’t care. The General had failed to protect Papyrus as he had promised. 

When the guards pushed Sans roughly into the cold, dark, and bare cell. His face smashed into the ground. Even as he breathed in the grime on the floor, all tension left his body.

What was the point in even trying with his brother dead?

\-----

Papyrus blinked awake to find himself lying on something soft and warm. He leaned up and realized it was a bed. A thick quilt slipped off his shoulders, revealing his servant’s attire from the Royal Palace. 

The palace?!

His memory steadily returned. The Grand Feast had taken place and a few assassins had slipped in. There had been smoke everywhere… an explosion had gone off near him and someone had grabbed him before he’d blacked out. He also vaguely remembered hearing a faint popping sound.

What about Sans? 

Worry and searing pain pulsed within him at the thought of his brother. Ever since Gaster had placed that command on him, any time he thought of his brother or interacted with him, Papyrus’s body was flooded with unbearable agony, as if his soul was splitting in two. It didn’t help that every time Papyrus flinched away from Sans, his brother’s face twisted with dejection.

If Sans was still at the palace, then why was he here?

He peered around. The room was nicely furnished and matched his standards in design. The walls were painted a deep maroon, and the wooden floors were spotless. A large map of Ebott hung on the wall opposite the bed, and a table stood in a corner with intricate wooden carvings atop it. In another corner sat a bookshelf lined with texts on battle strategy and medals of honor addressed to “General Papyrus Aster”. 

This was Boss’s room? How had he ended up here?

The door suddenly swung open. A short, stout skeleton who looked similar to his brother stood in the doorway. He had shark teeth similar to Boss, red eye lights, and a golden tooth substituting his left canine. The monster wore a simple tunic with a black outer coat and a matching pair of black trousers. Papyrus found it strange that the monster wore a black leather collar around his neck. Wasn’t that normally only used for dog monsters?

“hey, it’s good to see ya awake. thought i’d actually hurt ya for real,” a deep, rough voice rumbled. 

“HELLO, SKELETON THAT LOOKS LIKE SANS! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” He gave a wide sweep of his arms.

“nice ta finally meetcha, papyrus. name’s red. i‘m boss’s bro.” ‘Red’, as the monster was called, gave a wide grin.

Excitement filled Papyrus’s soul at the mention of the General. “THIS IS HIS ROOM? HE HAS EXQUISITE TASTES, AS EXPECTED OF A MONSTER CALLED PAPYRUS.”

“heh, yeah, glad ya like it.”

“IS HE HERE NOW?” Papyrus couldn’t keep the eagerness out of his tone.

“nah, he’s back at new fell home.” 

Papyrus jerked forward.

“I THANK YOU FOR YOUR HOSPITALITY, BUT I MUST HEAD BACK THERE AS WELL!” 

He approached the doorway but Red didn’t move and continued to block the exit.

“PLEASE LET ME THROUGH. I CANNOT LEAVE IF YOU STAND IN THE DOORWAY.”

“sorry, pal, but i can’t let ya go back there.”

“WHY NOT? MY BRO—” he paused. “SANS AND MY HUMAN FRIEND ARE STILL THERE! THEY NEED ME TO BE THERE FOR THEM!”

Suspicion flashed in Red’s eye lights. “well, your brother was the one that requested we bring ya here. so sorry, bud, ya can’t leave this house.”

The unintentional command took over, and just like a puppet controlled by strings, Papyrus felt himself plop unceremoniously back onto the bed.

Now he would never be able to leave unless Red retracted his order. Nevermind the fact that Sans had apparently _wanted_ him to be here.

“WHY?” 

“why what?”

“WHY DID SANS WANT ME TO BE HERE? WHY IS HE NOT HERE AS WELL?”

Red didn't answer right away, contemplating on the answer. “accordin’ to sans, you would be safer here.”

A silence fell between the two of them. Papyrus’s mind churned with questions and distress. Why had Sans done this without confiding in him first? His brother hadn't even given him a choice. Furthermore, if he was now stuck here, how would he protect Sans from the Royal Magician? Could he ask for help from Red and his brother?

“I MAY BE SAFER HERE, BUT SANS STILL NEEDS ME!”

“what d’ya mean?” Suspicion poured from Red’s tone.

In that moment, Papyrus desperately wanted to admit the agreement he had made with Gaster. Alas, as soon as the thought came to his mind, it was as if the Royal Magician had sensed his intentions. The threads around his soul constricted to prevent the words from slipping through his teeth.

“HE WILL BE ALONE WITHOUT ME TO PROTECT HIM.” That was all he could say without breaking his command.

“don't worry too much. my bro could always keep a socket on him while we figure things out.” Red peered out of the room for a moment before turning his gaze back to Papyrus. “anyways, you hungry? boss usually does most of the cookin’ here but i can whip up some burgers or ‘dogs.”

Papyrus couldn't keep mulling over what had happened. For now, he would have to make the best of things here until he found a way back to New Fell Home. And he would do so by showing off his prodigious cooking skills as a way of thanking Red and Boss for their help. 

“ALLOW ME, RED! I SHALL MAKE A GRAND MEAL FIT FOR ROYALTY! SHOW ME THE WAY TO YOUR KITCHEN!”

Red smirked and led Papyrus down to the first floor, giving a brief tour of the upstairs along the way. They had given Papyrus a bare room as a living space, which was still more than he had expected.

“IT IS WONDERFUL! THANK YOU AND THE GENERAL FOR ALL YOUR HOSPITALITY!”

“the general? heh, is that what my bro is makin’ ya call ‘im?” Red cackled.

“WELL… NO, HE DIDN’T. DOES HE PREFER ‘BOSS’?”

“yep, most call him boss. also makes it less confusing than if both of you were called ‘papyrus’.” 

The simple living room contained a wooden dining table with four seats on each side. Across the living room, in an alcove, was the kitchen, which was mostly made of stone. Light shone onto a iron stove through a nearby window, and in the back corner, stood several wooden barrels filled to the brim with vegetables and salted meat. The cooking area was much smaller than the one in the palace. A rush of homesickness flooded Papyrus; it reminded him of the kitchen he and Sans had owned before Fell had taken over Tale. 

“bread ‘n noodles are in the pantry, vegetables are in the barrel, and spices are along the back shelf. ya can make whatever.”

Papyrus inspected the barrel of vegetables, and chose some carrots, onions, and tomatoes. He raised a bony fist about to pound the various vegetables to pieces, when he remembered his lessons from watching the cooks at the Royal Palace; cutting was much faster and less messy. Red paced back and forth in the living room, glancing out the heavily reinforced window every few minutes.

“WILL BOSS BE BACK SOON?” Papyrus asked after preparing all the vegetables, letting it simmer in the boiling pot.

“yeah. he probably just got caught up in somethin’.” Red’s voice didn’t sound very convincing.

Eventually, his vegetable stew was ready, and he set the table for three. Red came over and sat down, eye lights trailing to the food. The corners of his teeth curled slightly upwards. The short skeleton dipped his spoon into the liquid and took a tiny sip.

“it’s pretty _souper_.”

“OF COURSE. AND SHOULDN’T WE—”

Papyrus narrowed his sockets at Red whose grin only widened.

“AHH! YOUR JOKES ARE JUST LIKE MY BRO—SANS’S!” He barely cringed this time, though it was overt enough for Red to catch.

“why d’ya keep doin’ that?”

“DOING WHAT?”

Red placed his left elbow onto the table and propped his head against his hand, scrutinizing him.

“why d’ya keep makin’ that expression when you’re about to say ‘brother’? tell me.”

“I… I—” 

A sudden chill swept over him as he realized he couldn’t answer. It was as if something was stuck in his throat. But what Red had just asked counted as a command, had it not?

Why was he unable to follow it?

The front door suddenly opened and slammed shut. Boss’s imposing figure stood in the entrance, his posture tense and his mouth set in a deep scowl. A strange amber jar hung from his belt. Red rose first from the table.

“heya, boss. clean up duty went longer than expected?” Papyrus noticed a hint of concern in Red’s tone.

Boss took one look at the two of them and scolded, “YOU ARE SUCH A LAZYBONES, MAKING OUR GUEST COOK!”

“IT WAS NO TROUBLE AT ALL! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM HAPPY I WAS ABLE TO MAKE MY SIGNATURE VEGETABLE STEW!”

“yeah, boss. i even offered ta make some burgs but papyrus declined,” Red added with a tight grin.

The Fell General huffed and sat down. The three of them ate in silence. 

“IS SANS SAFE?” Papyrus blurted out.

Boss gave an odd grimace before leveling him with an even gaze. “You’re brother is fine. No harm was done to him.”

There was a certain stiffness in the General’s answer, but Papyrus believed him. Feeling more relieved, he discreetly watched his two hosts’ interactions. 

Neither skeleton spoke to one another, but Papyrus could sense a closeness reminiscent to the relationship he once had with Sans. Their crimson eye lights met three different times during the meal, their gaze lingering longer each time. Once Boss finished eating, he swept passed Red, brushing a glove-covered hand on his elder brother’s back.

“Papyrus,” the General began. He turned to face him with a guarded expression. “I need to discuss some things with my brother. May I trouble you with cleaning this up?”

“OF COURSE!” Papyrus answered immediately, rushing to finish his stew.

“Take your time, there’s no need for you to hurry. If you need anything, come get one of us.”

Boss grabbed the back of Red’s collar and pulled his smaller brother along as he made his way upstairs. Left by himself, Papyrus quickly finished his meal, cleared the table, and scrubbed the dishes clean. His sockets trailed to the door, tempted to run away. He knew he wouldn't be able to, given Red’s command. He didn't hold it against the smaller skeleton; it wasn't his fault. Nevertheless, he still felt annoyed that it only complicated his situation.

Restless, Papyrus paced around the first floor of the house, getting familiar with the living space. He discovered a simple study room that held a small wooden desk, a leather chair, and a bookcase lined with worn tomes on stars and the Surface.

How Sans would love to read these books. A sharp pang squeezed his soul. He was just about to leave the room when a small, clear jar of gray balls caught his eye. As he stepped closer, a light went off in Papyrus’s head. He recognized what this was. They were the same things that Sans would typically use for his pranks. 

Smoke bombs and explosives. Like the ones that had been used at the Feast. And hidden in a tiny crevice behind the shelf was a ragged, black cloak.

What could this mean? Were Red and Boss working in league with those assassins from the Feast?

No, that couldn’t be. Boss was an upstanding skeleton! He would never do something so conniving! Papyrus believed in these two. It must’ve only been a coincidence. 

Still, the idea latched onto his mind like a parasite. He could, of course, always simply ask the two brothers. Papyrus ascended the stairs, picking up the muffled voices of Red and Boss from the other side of the closed door to Boss’s room. He crept closer, and against his better judgment, pressed his skull against the wooden surface, curiosity getting the better of him.

“so what’re we gonna do with that monster’s dust, boss? didn’t think you’d actually bring it back with ya.”

“Indeed it was not part of our plans, but Gaster had his eyes on it.”

Silence reigned for several seconds before he heard Red respond with, “ok, fair enough. we’ll hafta get rid of it so papyrus doesn’t find it.”

The mention of his name alongside the Royal Magician’s set him on high alert.

“Do as you see fit, but with Papyrus secured, we shall move onto the next step of our plans.” Papyrus heard footsteps heading towards the door. “We should go back downstairs. It would be rude to leave our guest unattended.”

Papyrus pulled away from the door, making great effort to suppress his gasp. The conversation he’d just heard was a clear enough confirmation that both skeletons had been involved in the attack at the Feast.

Had he been wrong to trust these two?


	6. The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk learns of Papyrus's death, attempts to help Sans and becomes suspicious of the Royal Magician.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Soul (@undertailsoulsex) for beta-ing.

Frisk was cooped up in Chara’s room, showing Chara a simple magic card trick that Sans had taught them in the Tale Kingdom. Queen Toriel stood at their side, watching with rapt attention. Suddenly, the floor shook and a blasting noise echoed through the room, quickly followed by screams of terror. Toriel ordered them to stay there while she assessed the situation and whisked out of the room. Knowing that Sans and Papyrus had been helping out at the event, Frisk didn’t want to simply sit and wait. 

They turned to Chara and narrowed their blood-red eyes, a weak huff escaping their lips.

“Let me guess, you want to go against Mom’s orders and make sure those two boneheaded skeletons are fine.”

Frisk clasped their hands together in front of them in a pleading gesture.

Chara sighed. “Fine. I’ll let you go if you bring me back some chocolate. Just make sure you’re back before Mom gets here.” 

_Are you going to be okay?_ Frisk signed. 

“I’ll manage. My fever’s down and my body doesn’t hurt as much as the past few days.”

Frisk thanked them again and left the room. As they crept their way down the dark hallways, making sure to stay as silent as possible, their thoughts went back to Chara. Their illness had begun around four or five days ago, shortly after their appointment with the Royal Magician who had looked after their health since King Asgore and Queen Toriel had adopted them. Frisk often wondered if Chara had always had poor health and if this illness had simply been an extension of that. But according to both Chara and Queen Toriel, the symptoms were different than usual.

High fevers, night sweats, and chills had plagued the human child for the past three nights. All throughout, they had been so pale and had kept pressing at their chest. Frisk wondered if their heart was bothering them. Or perhaps their Soul. 

After listening to Sans’s studies back in their old kingdom, Frisk knew the importance of Souls more than most, including the differences between human and monster Souls. That was why they suspected something unnatural had caused the illness. Something magical. But how and why, they could not figure out.

Frisk paused when they reached the main staircase that led to the Great Hall. It wasn’t where all the noise was coming from, so they felt along the stone wall until their fingers brushed against a protrusion. They pressed against it, and the stones shifted until it exposed a narrow, pitch-black hallway. 

The old castle was littered with secret passages that some of the servants used to get around without being seen. Shortly after Chara had begun to trust Frisk, Chara had shown Frisk the passages that they knew, but this was the first time Frisk had to use one.

Once Frisk stepped inside, they pressed a lever and the doorway snapped shut. Now surrounded by darkness, they made their way through the dark tunnel, their hands grazing along the wall as a guide. They counted ten steps, took a right turn, and continued until they felt the wall turn from rough to smooth. Throwing their whole weight into the motion, they pushed against the wall until it gave way to reveal a hole in the servant’s pantry. Careful not to be seen, they snatched a bar of dark chocolate from a cupboard, slipped it into their pocket, and returned to the hidden corridor.

After the wall was back in place, they traipsed down the tunnel until they reached an exit. They edged out from behind a large marble pillar in the Grand Ballroom small enough that the structure hid them completely. They peeked out and inspected the scene. 

All the guests seemed to have left; only the King, Queen, General, Royal Magician, and a servant remained. Asgore and Toriel were in what appeared to be a very serious conversation, but were too quiet for Frisk to hear. General Papyrus and the Royal Magician silently watched on, though neither seemed very happy with whatever was going on. The attendant, a grey rabbit monster, was hunched over on the floor, a grim expression on their face, and when Frisk got a closer look at what the servant was doing, they nearly gasped.

The servant was scooping dust into a jar, haphazardly tossing aside a familiar red scarf. 

Papyrus’s scarf. 

Frisk was stunned. There was no way that that dust belonged to Papyrus. 

What had happened here? And where was Sans? 

General Papyrus, or “Boss” as other monsters called him, caught the red fabric and slipped it inside his armor. Frisk was surprised to see Gaster glaring venomously at Boss. 

“I need to care to my child, Asgore. We can discuss more of this later.”

Startled from their hiding spot, Frisk fumbled their way back to Chara’s room, nearly tripping over their feet several times in the process. By the time they reached their destination, they were panting heavily and drenched in sweat. 

“Geez, are you putting your servant skills to good work?” 

Frisk’s chest clenched too painfully to respond, and they knew the pain was not only from the running, but also from what they’d just witnessed. 

“Got the chocolate?”

Frisk numbly handed the bar to Chara whose teasing smirk lessened. “What happened?”

Before Frisk had a chance to respond, the door swung open. Chara quickly hid the chocolate under the covers, and Frisk stiffened at the sight of the Queen. Her solemn expression sent a chill up their spine. Queen Toriel must’ve seen Frisk’s stricken look because her gaze softened, and she settled a firm but comforting paw on the top of their head.

“I am sorry, child, to report the death of the taller Tale skeleton. He was a friend of yours, was he not?”

Frisk nodded, tears prickling their eyes. A furry paw rhythmically stroked their back. Memories of all the times Frisk had spent with Papyrus — building puzzles, cooking, having slumber parties, and more — flooded their mind. His passion and energy always put a smile on their face. They couldn’t imagine how Sans was feeling about the loss.

At the thought of the older skeleton, Frisk snapped out of their despondent haze. 

Where had Sans been? They hadn’t seen him there.

Frisk hastily wiped the tears with their sleeve and signaled, _Does Sans know?_

Toriel’s nostrils flared, and she withdrew her hand to turn her focus to Chara, who sat on the bed watching with rapt attention.

“He does,” was all she said. 

Frisk waited for more information, but none came. 

_May I see him? He must be really upset._

“You cannot. He acted out of line, and to set an example, the King has ordered him to be locked in the dungeons until further notice. No one is to visit him.”

Frisk’s eyes widened. To be treated so horribly, especially after something like this. They couldn’t stand it. Both of the skeletons were family. 

_Please? Papyrus was his brother. I want to make sure he’s ok.”_

Toriel sighed as she tucked Chara into bed. Though Chara fidgeted, Frisk knew it was most likely because they were trying to hide the chocolate.

“I do not take misbehaving servants lightly.” Frisk slouched their shoulders. “But I may consider it, depending on circumstances. For now, both of you should rest.” 

Toriel gave Chara’s head a pat and did the same to Frisk before stepping out of the room. Toriel always welcomed Frisk to sleep in here, as long as Chara allowed it. It was exactly for that reason that there was a retractable cot in the room. 

“Hey, if you’re that worried, I’ll speak to Mom tomorrow and see if I can convince her.”

 _Really?_ At Chara’s growing smirk, Frisk knew that the Fell child wanted something in return for the favor. _What do you want?_

“I want you to take my place for my appointment with the Royal Magician next week.”

Frisk found the request odd. Yeah, the two of them looked similar enough that probably no one would suspect anything. But why would they ever want to skip the appointment anyway?

_Do you not like going? I thought he helped with your health problems?_

“Hmph, I’m just tired of listening to that old man blab about his magical genius. He always goes on and on about Souls.” Chara stared blankly at the wall. “It’s annoying. And I always feel tired and achy after the appointments.”

Frisk couldn’t imagine the type of check up that would cause those effects. They wanted to ask, but they took one look at Chara’s irritated expression and decided against it.

Desperate to get the Queen’s permission, Frisk agreed and they shook hands on the deal.

The following morning, Frisk awoke with a heart as heavy as lead. Never again would Papyrus and all his boisterous energy greet them when they went down to the servant’s quarters. Nor would he share new puzzles and traps with them.

Frisk got up and saw that Chara’s sickly pallor had remained overnight and that their fatigue still lingered. When Frisk went to the kitchens to make chicken soup for breakfast, they snuck another bar of dark chocolate for Chara. However, when they arrived in Chara’s room with the food, Toriel was already there. 

“So if you want the skeleton — ‘Sans,’ was it? — to finish the potion to shorten the length of my illnesses, it would be best if Frisk speaks with him.” Chara gave Frisk a subtle wink.

“Oh, my child, I had not realized you’d overheard our conversation, but you make a good point. Either way, you need not worry, I’ve already decided to grant Frisk their request.” Toriel turned slightly and jumped when her red eyes caught sight of Frisk. “Ah, Frisk, there you are. I have given it some thought, and I will allow you to visit your friend.”

_Really?_

“Yes, go downstairs to the kitchens. One of the servants -- he goes by Nice -- will accompany you to the skeleton.”

_Don’t you have to let King Asgore know? And what changed your mind, if I may ask?_

Deep, rumbling laughter fell from the Queen’s maw. 

“Do not be ridiculous, child, he may be king, but who do you think actually runs this place?” Toriel strolled over and plucked the tray from Frisk’s hands. “And my reasons are simple — whatever makes you two happy, I will consider the request fairly. Meet the servant by the back entrance of the palace. You are dismissed.”

Frisk signed multiple _thank you_ ’s to the Queen and scurried out of Chara’s room and down to the kitchens. Just as the Queen had said, the servant was outside of the kitchen.

“Ah, you are Frisk?” the servant asked.

Frisk nodded.

“The Queen mentioned that you may be joining me so you can see your friend. Please follow me.” 

The two of them trekked to the dungeons.

“I have to say, I was surprised that the Queen is allowing visitors. She is usually much stricter when it comes to following Asgore’s orders for punishment.”

_She’s strict but fair._

Nice tilted his head in confusion at Frisk’s hand gestures and continued forth, clearly not understanding what they had communicated.

The route was unfamiliar to Frisk. Not only did they have to exit into the courtyard to the back side of the palace, but they also needed to go down three flights of stairs. As they entered the dank and decrepit dungeons, a chill settled deep within them. The musky scent had their nose wrinkling in disgust as they followed the attendant down the gloomily lit hall. Cells with rusted bars sat on either side of them, and as they made their way down the row, furious snarls and hisses filled the air. 

For Sans to be kept down here… Frisk gripped their arms tightly to stop their trembling.

When Frisk and Nice reached a cell in the far back, they finally stopped. The torches’ dim light barely illuminated the area, but Frisk could make out a small figure lying on a thin piece of wood. A single stained sheet covered them, which Frisk knew was far too thin to actually help protect against the deep chill down here. Near the entrance of the cell sat an untouched tray of food that was soon covered as Nice slid the fresh meal between a slit in the door.

“I’ll wait by the entrance. Will you be able to make it through here?”

Frisk nodded and gestured for Nice to leave, and once he had, they tapped their hand against the prison bars. 

No response. 

They did it again, louder this time. Still no response. 

Frisk puffed out their cheeks in annoyance and gave the door a vigorous kick. Slowly, Sans turned towards them. A pair of barely visible eye lights darted in their direction.

 _I heard what happened to Papyrus,_ they signed, their eyes stinging with tears again. _I’m sorry, Sans._

“heh... s’not your fault, kiddo. only…” Sans’s cracking voice trailed off. They already knew what he was going to say.

_It’s not yours either. You shouldn’t blame yourself._

Sans sighed.

_You need to eat!_

“i’m a skeleton, remember? it’ll go right through me.” Even the joke sounded half-hearted. 

_How long are they keeping you here?_

Sans shrugged sluggishly as if it was the most laborious task in the world. “don’t know, don’t care.”

Frisk furrowed their brows in concern. 

_You can’t give up now. You’ve got to stay determined!_

Silence hung between them save for the off-rhythm snores of the other prisoners.

_And what about our plan to help improve the lives of the Tale citizens living here? Do they not matter to you anymore? Papyrus would’ve wanted us to keep moving forward!_

“don’t you have somethin’ better to do, kiddo?” Sans turned back towards the wall. 

After that, no matter what they did, Frisk couldn’t get Sans’s attention; the stubborn skeleton ignored them. Frisk turned away despondently and trudged out of the dungeons, ignoring the prisoners’ rude comments. They decided they would visit Sans as many times as needed to help him through this.

When Frisk made it back to the palace, excited chatter buzzed in the air. A mass of servants, royal guardsmen, and Fell royalty crowded around the Great Hall. Gaster’s dark, towering figure was bent over a wounded wolf monster in the center of the room. Frisk crept closer to the spectacle, diving in between various monsters until they stood close enough that they noticed the trail of dust coming from the unconscious monster. The Royal Magician drew a small vial filled with a strange, blood-red liquid that emitted a tangible power.

“Your majesties, and my wonderful citizens of Fell, I have created a concoction that will save this monster from Death’s doorstep,” Gaster announced, sweeping the vial past his audience. “Now watch as I demonstrate an advancement in the field of magic of which you’ve never seen!”

Gaster pried the canine soldier’s jaws open and gingerly tipped the vial so only a single drop fell into their mouth. It was so quiet, Frisk was sure they would be able to hear if a pin dropped.

“Nothing’s happening!” someone grumbled after several long minutes.

The Royal Magician held out a placating hand. As if they had heard the protest, the wounded monster suddenly opened their eyes and sat up. 

“What? I’m… alive? I’m alive!” the wolf exclaimed.

Gasps and shouts filled the hall. Frisk stared at the monster in disbelief. 

“Did you see that?!”

“He saved Wolfe from death!”

“Astounding! Does it prevent death?”

As the crowd’s jabbering continued, Frisk turned their attention to King Asgore whose eyes glittered with intrigue. They wondered if the potion could help Papyrus, but quickly dismissed the thought; Papyrus was already dead and Boss had his dust. Speak of the devil, Frisk spotted the General standing on the sidelines, glaring at the scene in distaste. 

Did he not like what Gaster had done? It did seem a bit strange. What had Gaster used to create the potion? It was so powerful! 

From Sans’s magic lessons, Frisk remembered that advanced elixirs were not something most magicians could prepare. The formulas were very complex, and if one didn’t use the precise amounts of very specific ingredients, things could go horribly wrong. That was why only someone well-versed in alchemy — someone like Alphys, for example — could craft such powerful potions.

Was this the same draught that Gaster had given Chara for their poor health? They would have to ask them. 

Frisk slipped through the crowd of monsters to go upstairs, but froze. Boss intercepted them along the way.

“It’s you. The human child from Tale.” 

Frisk nodded. Although they had lingering reservations about the General after their first encounter, Papyrus had always vouched for Boss’s kindness. Papyrus had even told them how Boss had chosen him to become his personal servant as a means of protection. Except it hadn’t been enough.

Papyrus was dead.

Instead of letting their resentment fester, they decided to do something more useful.

_Do you think the Royal Magician’s potion could resurrect Papyrus? Do you have his dust?_

Boss glowered, ruby eye lights shrunken into pinpricks. “OF COURSE NOT. AND EVEN IF I HAVE HIS DUST, I AM NOT GIVING IT TO THAT ROTTEN MAGICIAN! DO NOT BELIEVE HIS VILE TRICKS!”

So there _was_ something suspicious about that liquid. 

_Is there any way you can help Sans?_

Boss’s eye sockets widened briefly. 

“Did something happen?” he asked, his voice subdued.

 _I saw him earlier._

“THE KING HAS FORBIDDEN ANY VISITORS.”

_I got Queen Toriel’s permission._

Barely hidden disbelief flickered on Boss’s features. 

_He’s not eating and I think he’s given up completely! Isn’t there anything you can do to at least get him out of there?_

Boss didn’t answer for several minutes, though Frisk noticed his gloved hands were clenched into fists.

“I will see what I can do,” he answered softly. “In the meantime, I suggest you keep an eye out for the Royal Magician.”

The General turned on his heels and left, leaving Frisk to stand in the deserted corridor and wonder if they’d made a mistake in promising to take Chara’s place for their next appointment with Gaster.

The following day, Frisk visited Sans, and was met with the same response as before — absolutely nothing. This time he didn’t even bother to turn around! Not to mention, the food still was left untouched. Nice grumbled how he wasn’t going to come down anymore if the skeleton didn’t eat the food.

“It’s a waste of my time! Let him starve if he wants!”

Frisk frowned but didn’t argue back, knowing that it was useless trying to communicate with him when he couldn’t understand their hand signals.

That evening, Frisk couldn’t stop thinking about Sans. What if he fell down?

“Eh, I’m sure he’ll tough it out eventually,” Chara said when Frisk expressed their concerns. “I bet he’ll bounce back soon enough.” 

Frisk told them of what Gaster had done to the dying wolf monster, but Chara remained uninterested.

_Do you trust the Royal Magician?_

Chara raised an eyebrow. “What question is this? Is something wrong?”

Frisk hesitated for a second, contemplating whether they should tell Chara of their meeting with Boss, and then shrugged.

_Just curious. King Asgore seems to trust his judgment a lot._

“Well, of course. Dad’s known him since before I got here. Apparently they fought together in the Fell Civil War.”

_Oh. I didn’t know._

“Don’t get me wrong, though -- he’s a weirdo! Even after all these years, I still don’t know much about him.” Chara broke off a piece of chocolate, popped it into their mouth, and closed their eyes in bliss. “Mmm, this is so good, Frisk! I love having you as my personal chocolate thief.”

Frisk smiled at them and decided to drop the subject. They’d just have to keep a lookout and take note of any suspicious activity from Gaster. If they paid careful enough attention, maybe they could even learn something about the mysterious skeleton when they took Chara’s place during their next appointment.

The next day, Frisk visited Sans once again. This time, Nice didn’t go with them, finally too fed up with the wasted food. The other prisoners ignored Frisk as they passed; their jeering comments had stopped once they had realized Frisk wouldn’t respond. As they approached Sans’s cell, they were shocked to find him standing up, shoulders tense and face contorted in anger. 

Another occupant was in the cell. 

The mysterious person was round and short, only slightly larger than Sans. He wore a pitch-black cloak with a hood that covered his face. How did they get in there?

“what’re you doing here?” Sans rasped. 

“heard from boss you weren’t doin’ so hot, so i came to check up on ya,” the stranger responded. His voice sounded similar to Sans’s, though much rougher in quality. 

“you can take your concern outta here. it’s his fault pap died!”

“what?! watch what ya say ‘bout boss!”

“he should’ve been there for pap! he was supposed to protect him! he c-coulda…” Sans trailed off and made to slump on his cot, but the stranger seized his wrist, preventing him from turning away.

Frisk caught a flash of white. Was that a skeletal hand? 

The hooded figure closed in on Sans and whispered something against the side of his skull. Sans’s eye lights blinked out briefly, and then reappeared, dilated and bright. Sans nodded, and then, without warning, the two monsters vanished into thin air.


	7. The Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red and Boss spend some quality time together. Afterwards, Papyrus finally gets an explanation on what was happening, while having an impromptu meeting with Sans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to [undertailsoulsex](https://archiveofourown.org/users/undertailsoulsex/works) for beta-reading!
> 
> **Chapter warnings: NSFW, Fellcest, ecto-vagina, ecto-penis, fingering, skullfucking**

Red sat in the comfy armchair in his and Boss's shared bedroom, perusing a two-inch thick tome on souls and spells that affected them. It was the same book that he’d seen Sans read when they first met over two weeks ago. He wasn’t normally the intellectual type, and usually he’d shiver at even the thought of reading anything relating to magic theory, but he was curious why his counterpart had been looking into the topic. It wasn’t exactly something most monsters went out of their way to research, even if they were scholars. He only knew one monster interested in the subject.

Gaster. 

He had always had a perverted fascination with them. The vile magician had spouted off his theories to Red during their many would-be “training sessions”; in reality, Gaster used those times to practice his newly created spells on Red. This was after Gaster had realized that he and Boss didn’t have the magical aptitude to become magicians.

_”Sans, souls are such a wonderful part of monsters. I would even say they are the most important aspect of our existence. Imagine if there were spells to control a monster via their soul! Wouldn’t that be a wonderful power to have?”_

It was all thanks to Boss he’d escaped Gaster’s clutches. Red owed his entire life to his brother. If he hadn’t given in and admitted to everything that had happened, then he would still be trapped within the palace walls, forced to meet with Gaster every night. That or dead. 

He had no doubt in his mind that if he’d stayed any longer, Gaster would’ve started experimenting with spells on his soul. What would’ve become of him then?

As he contemplated this, spots lined his vision, and Red realized with a start that his breathing had sped up. He was gasping for breath, desperate for air. It was only when a gloved hand settled on his arm that his surroundings came into view; Boss was peering at him with concern in his eyes.

“BREATHE WITH ME.”

Red followed the rise and fall of Boss’s ribs until the panic gradually subsided. He had somehow slipped out of the armchair onto the floor, and his back was leaning against the legs of the chair. Boss swiped the book out of his grip, saw the title, and scowled. 

“WHY ARE YOU READING THIS? IS THIS WHAT BROUGHT ABOUT THE PANIC ATTACK?”

Red gave a weak shrug, staring at the floor with shame churning beneath his ribs. He hated letting Boss see him like this. 

He was weak.

As if reading his mind, Boss pulled him into a hug and reassured in an unusually soft tone, “Do not be ashamed, brother. After all, you are still healing.”

“yeah, for three years now,” Red answered dryly. 

Boss made a clicking sound with his teeth and lifted Red’s chin to his level. In a slow movement, he leaned forward and pressed his teeth against Red’s. Red soon felt a soft appendage probing for entrance and he pulled away.

“are ya sure we should be doin’ this? papyrus’s in our house.”

“SO?” Boss said without missing a beat. He slipped off both of his scarlet gloves and placed them on the bookshelf adjacent to the armchair. “WE BOTH NEED SOME STRESS RELIEF.”

Red didn’t know when his brother had gone from being a bit prudish about casual sex, as he had been when their relationship first began, to using it as a means of stress relief, but he wasn’t going to argue. He was almost always up for it.

Their kiss resumed, and this time Red granted Boss entrance to ravage his mouth. Red moaned and thrusted his pelvis up against Boss’s. The gesture was returned with increased fervor. Clawed phalanges stroked roughly against Red’s ribs, drawing faint marks. He leaned into the ministration, gasping past the long tongue wrestling with his own as he dragged his hands up from Boss’s knee caps. A particularly harsh tug at his lowermost ribs brought tears to his eyes; the immediate pleasure that followed by Boss rubbing down his spine stole his breath away.

Eventually, Boss’s deft fingers reached his coccyx and he caressed the bone until Red’s arousal morphed into a dripping mound. A phalanx breached the folds of the conjured ecto-flesh, the sharp tip causing Red to jolt. It pumped in and out of him a few times, and Red gyrated his hips into Boss’s strokes. 

Continuing his teasing along Red’s folds, Boss broke away from the kiss only to swipe his tongue at Red’s neck. Red jerked, allowing Boss to scrape his sharp fangs lightly over the white bone. He shivered and buried his head into his brother’s armor. Though it wasn’t the most comfortable material, Boss’s scent of spices and recently-polished armor filled his nose. 

Then, suddenly, sharp pain exploded from his shoulder while at the same pleasure coiled within his pelvis, as Boss bit down on his clavicle and rubbed his finger at Red’s clit. A barely muffled scream escaped from Red’s teeth. Marrow leaked out of the wound and was quickly brushed away by Boss’s tongue. Red groaned from the sensation, quivering in his brother’s arms. Once the intoxicating haze of pain and pleasure subsided, Red regarded Boss with lidded sockets, pupils hazy with lust. 

“boss… pl-please… more!”

“MORE?” he smirked. “YOU DARE MAKE DEMANDS OF THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS?”

Red whined when Boss withdrew his digit from Red’s pussy. The taller skeleton stood at his full height, unbuckled his pants to allow them to fall to his ankles, and sat down on the edge of the plush recliner with his femurs spread apart. He then grabbed ahold of Red’s collar and dragged him until he was kneeling in front of Boss’s bare pelvis, his long, red cock already on display. 

“always love ta see yer _boner_ , boss,” Red grinned cheekily.

Boss yanked the collar until Red was inches from his shaft. “YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO, MUTT!”

Knowing that his needs would remain unfulfilled until his brother was satisfied, Red brushed his tongue up and down Boss’s length, licking the pre-cum coalescing at the tip. Once the shaft was coated in his saliva, Red swallowed the dick whole, summoning a throat as he did. Boss grunted as he began to move up and down, pausing at the top every so often to tease the head. Meanwhile, his unfilled pussy throbbed with every soft sound that fell from Boss’s clenched teeth. 

Just as Red felt Boss’s cock swell, Boss ordered breathily, “STOP!”

Red froze, glancing up at him with confusion. 

“PULL OFF!”

Red did as he was told. “did i do somethin’ wrong?”

Boss shook his head. “I’VE BEEN WANTING TO TRY STICKING IT IN YOUR EYE SOCKET.” 

Silence.

“OF COURSE, ONLY IF YOU AGREE TO IT.”

Although Boss put on a cool mask, Red could tell from how his brother’s pupils were darting to the wall that he really wanted this. And Red was always one to grant Boss’s needs. Besides, he’d never tried sticking anything in his sockets before, so it could be a neat experience for him too.

“ok, go ahead, boss.”

With surprising gentleness, Boss gripped the sides of Red’s skull to keep him in position, and slid easily into his right socket, the shaft slick with drool. Both of them groaned together, a peculiar full sensation filling Red’s head. It wasn’t painful, exactly; just a bit disconcerting, and maybe even a bit _heady_. 

Red snickered at the joke, but produced a choking noise once Boss began to move. The friction created from Boss pulling in and out, prodding the dormant magic behind his eyes, left him panting.

“FUCK, RED! THIS FEELS AMAZING!”

“ah! k-keep goin’, b-boss!”

Boss increased his pace until Red felt pressure along the rim of his eye, followed by a rush of warm liquid spilling in the back of his skull. His brother pulled out of Red with a sigh, and Red moaned. Crimson cum dripped out of his socket, causing his cunt to clench at the sensation. 

As Boss shifted his hand to Red’s pelvis to return the favor, a loud thump came from outside their room. Both of them froze, and from the small gap in the slightly opened door, Red saw a flicker of the brown servant’s clothing that Papyrus wore. Red noticed his brother’s magic dissipating, and his soon followed suit. 

Exhibitionism, especially with Papyrus of all monsters, was definitely not something Red wanted.

Boss hurriedly pulled up his dark pants, and, once they were buckled back on, pivoted to Red. He grimaced at the globs of red cum dribbling out of Red’s eye.

“GET THAT CLEANED UP. I WILL SPEAK WITH PAPYRUS. IT IS BEST IF WE EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED INSTEAD OF THIS POINTLESS DODGING.”

“a’right, boss, but ya owe me.”

Boss swung opened the door. Before he stepped out, he glanced back at Red, mouth curling into a wide smirk, “DO NOT WORRY, BROTHER, THE NEXT TIME I MAKE YOU COME, YOU WILL SEE STARS!”

Boss left, leaving Red alone to mull over what had happened. He stared grumpily at the door for a minute or two until cum plopped onto their black sheets. Even though the magical release would dissolve on its own eventually, if he was going to see Papyrus, he should clean it off. 

He got up, raised his arm to stretch his bones until he heard a faint pop, and then shuffled into their shared washroom. 

A circular wooden tub, just wide enough to fit the both of them, stood against the far wall. Two steel wash bins, each attached to a three-foot stone platform, sat on Red’s immediate right. Red picked up a tin bucket in the entranceway, and held it up to the facet on the wall above the wooden tub. He allowed the water to run enough to fill the pail up to the brim, and then dumped it into one of the wash bins.

As Red began to scrub his skull clean of his brother’s cum, he wondered if Boss had gotten Papyrus to talk. Ever since they had eaten dinner with him, Papyrus had made it his goal to avoid them whenever possible. He always ate alone in his room, and his shoulders would stiffen whenever one of them got near. Although he tried to hide it, Red could detect the suspicious pouring off Papyrus.

This had been going on for two days, and Red could tell by the way Boss had left so quickly just now that he was finally at the end of his rope. Red inwardly cringed at having to explain to the naive skeleton what they’d been doing. He doubted Sans and Papyrus did anything close to what he and his brother did. In fact, he wondered if his double had done anything intimate with Papyrus. Maybe he’d ask Sans next time they met. 

Red wanted to believe that Sans was okay. Boss had informed him of Sans’s temporary imprisonment in the dungeons, and the injustice of it all had him seething. Red’s soul gave a sharp pang as he imagined coming home to only his brother’s dust, even if it was fake. 

In fact, did Sans even know that Papyrus hadn’t really died?

Red sputtered and blew water out of his nose holes at the revelation. He had been under the impression that Boss had informed Sans of their plan, but what if that wasn’t the case?

Spurred on by the distressing thoughts, Red scrubbed the remaining magic from his face, dried himself, and sped out of their shared bathroom down the stairs. He heard two muffled voices coming from the study, and, despite the closed door, Red could hear the conversation given that both Papyrus’s and Boss’s “soft” tones were still loud to a normal monster.

“SO EVERYONE THINKS I AM DEAD?” Papyrus asked, his pitch higher than usual. Whether it was due to anger or worry, Red couldn’t tell. “DOES SANS KNOW?”

There was an extended period of silence until Boss eventually stated, “HE DOES NOT.”

Welp, that sure confirmed his worries. 

An exasperated huff came from Papyrus, followed by three furious stomps on the cement floor towards the entryway. Red scrambled out of the way just as it swung open. Papyrus stormed out with a displeased frown, and his shoulders and eyes drooped with a weariness that Red was intimately familiar with. Papyrus briefly glanced at Red, flushed orange and then sped off into his offered room. 

Moments later, Red went into the room. Boss stood in the back wall with his arms cross tightly in front of his chest. He glared at the floor as if it offended him.

“guessin’ it didn’t go too well?”

“HE ASSUMED THAT WE WERE THE ASSASSINS THAT DISRUPTED THE FEAST.”

“we kinda were, boss.”

Boss returned his statement with an unimpressed stare.

“YES, BUT HE FOUND THE MONSTER DUST — WHICH BY THE WAY, YOU DID A TERRIBLE JOB OF HIDING — AND STARTED HARPING ABOUT HOW HE BELIEVED I COULD DO BETTER AND MURDER SHOULD BE AVOIDED WHEN POSSIBLE.” Boss let his arms drop to his side, gloved hands clenched tightly into fists. “THAT NAIVE FOOL! IF IT WERE NOT FOR ME, HE AND HIS BROTHER WOULD BE DEAD LIKE THE REST OF THOSE TALE MONSTERS!”

Boss sank into a chair and sighed. Red ambled over and grasped his brother’s right shoulder, rubbing small circles. Humming softly, Boss leaned into his ministrations.

“don’t let it get ta ya, ‘m sure he meant no disrespect. he’s never had ta live with the violence of fell.”

Boss rarely reacted to other people’s criticisms, his own self-confidence oftentimes overshadowing them. But for Boss to be this upset over Papyrus’s words, he must have had respect for Papyrus to some degree. Then again, similarly, Sans had caught Red’s interest; he wouldn’t have come up with this whole charade if Red hadn’t found Sans fascinating.

“besides, he just learned the truth, including that his bro doesn’t know he’s still alive.” He tried to keep any accusatory tone out of his voice, but apparently it hadn’t worked. 

Boss bore his sharp teeth and retorted, “HE HIMSELF SAID HE DIDN’T WANT TO BE INFORMED OF THE PLAN FOR WHATEVER REASON, SO DO NOT GO BLAMING ME!” He paused, crimson eye lights darting to the side. “BESIDES, IT WOULD BE UNWISE FOR ME TO ACT AGAINST ASGORE’S ORDERS.”

Red resumed his massages after he spotted Boss’s guilty expression.

“sorry, boss, didn’t mean t’ blame ya.” Red gazed at the tapestry of a skull and crossbone, plans running through his mind.

He could always teleport to where they were holding Sans — he was, admittedly, well-versed in the layout of the dungeons — and bring him here for a short period to meet with his brother. The idea of stepping back inside the Royal Palace after everything that had happened to him there sent a chill down his spine; however, if this all went as planned, Sans and Papyrus would be happier.

Boss would never approve of this plan, but he had to try.

“i could teleport to where sans is and bring ‘im here to meet up with—.”

“THAT IS A TERRIBLE IDEA!” Boss interjected, shooting back up. “WHAT IF YOU GET CAUGHT? WHAT IF _HE_ IS THERE? NO, I CANNOT ALLOW YOU TO DO THIS!”

“it’ll only take a couple o’ minutes. i only need ta convince sans, and i’ll be back.”

“I DON’T CARE IF IT TAKES YOU ONE SECOND! YOU ARE NOT GOING!” Boss stomped his boots once and crossed his arms in front of him. A period of silence pervaded between them.

“i really ‘preciate your concern but if papyrus and sans met and saw that each of them was fine, they’d be happier. and i can see how much papyrus’s comments are bothering ya.”

Boss looked ready to protest, but before he could, Red stood on his tiptoes to tenderly cup Boss’s cheekbones in his hands. 

“please trust me, bro, it’s ‘bout time i got over my fear of that place. i can’t always have ya protecting my bony ass, heh.”

Boss grasped Red’s wrists and pressed their foreheads together.

“I DO NOT MIND PROTECTING WHO I LOVE, BROTHER.”

“i know ya don’t.” Red beamed, feeling like the luckiest monster in Ebott.

“HAD IT BEEN THREE YEARS AGO, I BET YOU WOULD’VE RUN OFF TO YOUR PLAN WITHOUT TELLING ME.”

Red pulled away with regret. 

“IF YOU ARE ONLY GOING TO THE PALACE TO BRING SANS HERE AND BACK, I WILL AGREE TO THIS PLAN OF YOURS. I WILL FIND OUT WHERE HE IS LOCATED AND MAKE SURE THE GUARDS ARE AWAY FROM THE DUNGEONS WHILE YOU ARE THERE.”

“thanks, boss, could always count on ya.”

_Clack!_

Red pressed his teeth to brother’s, and allowed himself to get swept away by Boss’s warm tongue.

 

A day after Red voiced his plan, Boss found the location of Sans’s cell. There were three sets of dungeons in the Royal Palace, and Sans was located in the southwest wing, down three flight of stairs in the last cell of the hall. To ensure that Red would teleport to the correct location, and to ease some of his anxiety, Boss had given him a floorplan of the castle. Once he saw how far his destination was from Gaster’s underground laboratory on the northeast tower, relief flooded him.

“QUEEN TORIEL HAS GRANTED THE HUMAN CHILD FROM TALE PERMISSION TO VISIT SANS, SO MAKE SURE THEY DO NOT SEE YOU,” Papyrus heeded. He stood ramrod straight with his hands twitching periodically. 

“relax, boss, i’ll be in and outta there in no time,” Red reassured, as he slipped on a pitch-black traveling cloak. He drew up the hood until darkness shrouded his skull save for his eye lights. “see ya soon.”

Red visualized the layout of the royal palace and located Sans’s cell in his mind’s eye. He took a deep breath and vanished. Seconds later, cool musty air hit his face, causing him to squint in reflex. Once his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, he caught sight of a lump shifting on a flimsy cot attached to the left wall. As if sensing his magical signature, Sans shot up and rotated towards Red.

He appeared worse for wear. Even the darkness of the cell couldn’t hide the the heavy slouch of his shoulders, the dullness of his eyelights in the dark expanse of his eye sockets, or the seemingly permanent shadows etched below them. Red’s soul churned painfully at Sans’s pitiful state, and he hoped Sans wasn’t about to keel over and Fall Down.

“what’re doing ‘ere?” Sans croaked, barely above a whisper.

Red crept closer to Sans. “your bro’s alive.”

Sans gaped, mouth opening and closing several times.

“and tale still exists as its own kingdom,” Sans replied, sarcasm dripping his tone. “that ain’t one of your best jokes, pal.”

Sans slumped back onto his cot and ignored Red’s hand when it touched his right arm.

“it’s the truth. we faked his death ‘n he’s safe at our place. i’ll take ya there.” Red offered a hand. 

Sans shifted his back to Red. “it doesn’t matter.”

Red sighed in exasperation and muttered, “i’m not gonna let ya waste away like this, ya stubborn bonehead." 

Without waiting for Sans’s response, he seized the other tightly and pulled at his magic to teleport back home. When they arrived, Sans wrenched himself out of Red’s grasp.

“why did you bring me to…” Sans trailed off as his pupils darted around the living room of their house, “your home?”

“cuz it’s time ya found out what actually happened with yer bro.”

Sans raised a bone brow at him. “this again? look, it’s not—”

“SANS?” Papyrus’s shrill voice abruptly rang out.

Sans spun around, mouth ajar, “pa-papyrus?!”

Said skeleton bounded down the stairs, taking two steps at a time, until he stopped in front of Sans. Sans’s arms twitched at his sides, rising and falling down as if he wanted to touch Papyrus but wasn’t sure if he should. In the end, neither embraced the other. 

Hadn’t Boss said they openly displayed affection with each other? 

Papyrus adopted a neutral expression. 

“what’s going on?” Sans demanded, spinning around to glare at Boss and then Red. 

Boss, without saying anything, nodded at Red and went into the kitchen, leaving him to explain everything. Red wondered why his brother left him to this unpleasant task. Well, he might as well state it as it was.

“papyrus’s alive ‘cause we faked his death.”

Silence.

Then, “I STILL DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY YOU FELT THE NEED TO DO THAT.”

Red glanced at Sans, whose eye lights had disappeared. His usual grin was strained, and a bead of sweat shone on his forehead. Red knew then that Sans had figured out the rest.

“SANS, WHAT IS GOING ON?” Papyrus had his arms akimbo as he bore down at his brother. “WHY DO I HAVE A FEELING YOU PLAYED A ROLE IN THIS?”

More sweat appeared.

“not a huge role. i may have… suggested it…” Sans’s voice steadily became more quiet until the last part was barely audible. 

Papyrus blinked twice. “SUGGESTED IT?”

A huff came from the kitchen area. Boss re-entered the living room carrying two plates of lasagna and set them down at the small table centered in the room. Papyrus and Sans eyed the dish with hunger. 

“FEEL FREE TO EAT,” Boss said. He turned to Sans. “YOU LOOK READY TO DUST ANY MOMENT.”

There was no response or movement towards the food.

Red coughed superfluously and whispered discreetly to his brother, “don’t think that was the best way ta start the conversation, boss.”

Boss grimaced. “THEN STOP WASTING TIME AND START TALKING!” He directed his attention to Papyrus. “IF YOU WANT ME TO START, THEN I’LL SAY THAT WHAT WE DID WAS AT SANS REQUEST.”

Sans cringed and shrank into himself.

“THIS WAS _YOUR_ PLAN?” Papyrus demanded.

“no, of course not. i didn’t know they were gonna fake your death. i only asked for their help.”

“HELP FOR WHAT? TO DUST ANOTHER MONSTER?”

“whoa, there, papyrus,” Red interrupted. “that monster was dust way before this plan was put together. stop assumin’ me and boss killed the guy.”

Guilt sprawled across Papyrus’s face, though it disappeared once he turned back to Sans, who wouldn’t look at him. “WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THIS REQUEST?”

“i-it was only to keep ya safe, bro. to get you away from—”

“KEEP ME SAFE?!” Frustration tinged Papyrus’s tone, which caught Red by surprise. “KEEP ME SAFE FROM WHAT? 

Sans gawked at Papyrus, posture rigid with shock, “pap, it was for your own good. i had to get you outta the palace and away—” 

“AWAY? AWAY FROM WHAT? THAT ROYAL MAGICIAN? BECAUSE IT’S TOO—” Papyrus abruptly stopped.

Red found that oddly specific. Did Papyrus know Gaster was up to something?

Papyrus shook his head, and then continued. “FORGET IT! YOU SAID IT WAS ‘FOR MY OWN GOOD’? DO YOU HEAR YOURSELF? WHY DO YOU ALWAYS DO THIS, SANS? WHY DO YOU ALWAYS MAKE DECISIONS ON MY BEHALF WITHOUT CONFIDING IN ME FIRST! IT MAKES ME SO... SO… NYEH!”

Without another word, Papyrus stormed back upstairs and slammed his bedroom door shut.

Red exhaled a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, and surveyed his double. Papyrus may as well have slapped Sans across the face, given his dumbstruck expression. Boss, who towered over Sans, sighed. 

“IT MUST BE A SANS THING TO KEEP SECRETS.”

Sans flinched, bracing for another verbal lashing. Instead, Boss patted his slouched shoulder.

“THAT WAS NOT TO DISPARAGE YOU. RED WAS THE SAME WAY.” 

“yeah, and i did it for _years_ , heh,” Red chimed in, scratching the back of his neck. “prolly not my best moment.”. 

He hoped it would bring Sans out of his slump; it appeared doubtful given his guilty features. 

“GIVE PAPYRUS SOME TIME. HE IS LIKELY IN SHOCK. I AM SURE HE WILL TURN AROUND EVENTUALLY.”

Sans nodded with skepticism. 

“BUT SPEAKING AS A PAPYRUS, PLEASE HAVE MORE FAITH IN OUR ABILITIES AND STOP JUMPING INTO PLANS WITHOUT INFORMING US FIRST.”

Several minutes of awkward silence later, Boss grabbed one of the plates of his cooking and took his leave to check on Papyrus, leaving Sans with Red. Red knew he didn’t want to bring Sans back to the Royal Palace; just visualizing him lying in that grimy cell made him feel sick.

He pushed the plate of now-cold lasagna at Sans, who didn’t move.

“ya should at least eat this before i bring ya back.”

Thankfully, Sans listened to him, slowly cutting a piece of the pasta dish off and putting it into his mouth. Then, faster than he could follow, the plate was empty.

“was good, huh?”

“yeah. it helps that i haven’t eaten in awhile.” Sans paused and sank down on the couch. “ _tibia-nest_ it’s better than pap’s cooking.”

Despite the lack of humor in Sans’s tone, Red smirked at the pun.

“that’s _tibia_ expected since boss’s been cooking since he was a babybones. he’s the greatest, isn’t he?” Red gushed with pride. “and like he said, i’m sure things’ll get better.”

Sans shrugged haphazardly. “as long as pap is safe, i’ll be good.”

Red frowned. “listen, sans, whatever’s goin’ on, ya should tell papyrus eventually. i was the same way as ya before. i wouldn’t be where i am today if i hadn’t told boss everything that was goin’ on.”

Sans’s mouth remained closed. 

“at least tell someone.”

“even if i want to, i can’t,” was all Sans replied.

“what’s that supposed ta mean?”

He was met with another shrug, and rubbed his nosehole in frustration. Red didn’t prod Sans for any further answers, knowing from personal experience that it would be a fruitless effort. Rather, he brought both of his hands to Sans’s back, and began to massage the bones under his servant clothes. The smaller skeleton tensed initially, but soon leaned into Red’s touches. He kneaded the magic holding Sans’s bones together, relaxing the pent up stress. 

“that feels nice,” Sans hummed, looking more relaxed than Red had ever seen him. Even the bags seemed to alleviate slightly, and soon his eyelids drooped with drowsiness.

It was during this moment of peace that Red teleported the two of them back into the dungeons with Sans leaning heavily against him. 

“thanks, red,” Sans murmured, ready to drift to sleep.

Red’s soul fluttered like butterflies. 

Shit, was he really that flattered by his gratitude?

Possibly. It wasn’t as if he or Boss received much of it other than the superficial compliments from the Fell citizens. And that was usually directed at Boss, not him.

In a spur of the moment decision, Red bent down and, with a soft clack, quickly pressed his shark-like teeth to Sans’s right cheek. He didn’t even stir, already asleep.

Red pulled back and took his leave, trying to convince himself the kiss was nothing more than a nonverbal “you're welcome”.


	8. The Alchemist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the aftermath of Papyrus and Sans's meeting, Papyrus and Boss head to Fell Snowdin... And they bump to a familiar face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, sorry for the delay! I had hoped to update this fic more but got caught up with kinktober. Now that it's done, I'll be focusing more on this fic. My estimated completion date is February of next year. And --- denotes POV shift.
> 
> Also, thanks to [undertailsoulsex](https://archiveofourown.org/users/undertailsoulsex/works) for beta-reading! ^3^

Papyrus paced back and forth in Red and Boss’s guest room, his soul beating in agitation. He simply couldn’t believe Sans had thought it was a good idea to fake his death — to essentially lie about his existence. Never again could he step within the Royal Palace since all the servants would recognize his face. At least the Royal Magician would no longer use him.

It went beyond just anger. Did Sans distrust his abilities that he would not even tell him of the plan? He knew Sans meant well, but the manner in which he handled it only hurt Papyrus more.

A knock suddenly resonated from the door, ripping Papyrus away from his ruminations.

“IF IT IS MY BRO—” He winced and corrected, “IF IT’S SANS, TELL HIM I AM GIVING HIM THE SILENT TREATMENT!”

“It is I,” Boss’s sharp voice flowed through. “You left without your food, so I brought it up for you.”

Feeling lighter than air and his foul mood temporarily curbed, Papyrus opened the door. Boss stood with the plate of untouched lasagna in his hands. Papyrus took the pasta dish as Boss stepped inside and closed the door.

A burst of tomato, cheese, and spices exploded in his mouth, and Papyrus gushed, “WOWIE! THIS IS AMAZING!”

The corners of Boss’s mouth lifted slightly. “OF COURSE, MY COOKING IS FAMOUS AMONGST THE ROYAL GUARD!”

Papyrus scarfed down the rest within minutes, not realizing how hungry he had been. Strength flooded his body with every bite he took. Once he finished, not a single speck of sauce remained on the plate.

“Feeling better?” Boss asked.

Papyrus nodded and exclaimed, “THAT TASTED DELICIOUS! YOU WILL HAVE TO TEACH ME HOW TO MAKE THAT IN THE FUTURE.”

“Of course with me as your tutor, your skills will improve faster than it takes my brother to bring Sans back to New Home.”

Papyrus visibly deflated at the mention of his brother going back to the palace, his shoulders drooping lower and eyes cast towards the floor. He didn’t know why his emotions were as turbulent as a raging storm.

On one hand, he was concerned about Sans’s well-being, especially when his brother was separated from him, but there was an insidious part of him that found it difficult to care. The unexpected apathy, which he almost never encountered, was like dumping ice-cold water on his skull. Papyrus shivered.

It was as though his love for Sans had been stripped away. And every time he thought about his older sibling, his soul felt as though it were splitting apart. He hadn’t realized Gaster’s spell had this much power over his emotions.

A soft rattling sound filled the room. It took Papyrus a few seconds to realize he was trembling.

He was not terrified of the idea of hating Sans; there was no way! He was the Great Papyrus! He wasn’t going to allow this nasty spell to control him!

A hand settled on his shoulder, startling him out of his trance. Boss gazed at him with concern.

“If you are worried about Sans, I will keep watch of him when I am stationed at the palace.”

“THAT WOULD BE OF GREAT HELP! THANK YOU SO MUCH!” Papyrus spoke graciously, though Boss had misread his fears.

Silence wrapped about the two of them, causing Papyrus to fidget and start pacing again, the movement dampening his shaking until it faded. His fingers twitched in need for more physical stimuli. He usually kept himself busy, whether it be creating puzzles, building inventions, or practicing his combat.

When was the last time he’d done those activities? Apart from the handful of times he had sparred with Boss recently, he couldn’t remember.

Papyrus made his way to the closed door, trying to gauge whether Sans was still downstairs with Red. Normally, he would be elated to see his brother after so long, but now the idea gnawed away at his entire being.

He really wished he could leave the house. Unfortunately, Red’s command was still in effect.

“If you want to go outside, all you have to do is ask,” Boss informed, crossing his arms. “I, too, hate being cooped up for extended periods of time.”

Papyrus spun around and practically bounced towards the other monster. “REALLY? EVEN IF RED HAD COMMANDED ME TO NOT LEAVE THIS HOUSE?”

Boss blinked and then flicked his ruby eye lights at the door briefly before staring back at Papyrus.

“You are taking orders from my brother?” Disbelief littered Boss’s tone.

The magic wrapped around Papyrus’s soul constricted even more in preparation.

“It is important to follow them for your safety, but if you have an escort, such as myself, and a way to keep your identity hidden, you have the option to explore the nearby town.”

“REALLY?!” Papyrus blurted. “I WOULD LOVE TO EXPERIENCE THE SNOWDIN LIFE IN FELL!”

Boss frowned slightly. “It cannot be today. How about after I make a few preparations?”

“IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO IN THE MEANTIME?”

Boss stroked his chin with a gloved hand, expression contemplative as he walked in a circle around Papyrus, studying him.

“Besides combat, what can you do?”

“DESIGNING PUZZLES! MY PUZZLES CAN CHALLENGE ANY MONSTER!” Papyrus straightened his back and puffed out his chest proudly.

Boss clapped his hands together. “What about traps?”

“OF COURSE, THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN CREATE THE MOST ELABORATE AND MIND-BLOWING PUZZLE TRAPS! NYEH HEH HEH!”

Boss’s jagged mouth curled into a wide smirk. “Then I shall show you the initial outline and you can assist in the designing of the traps while I prepare.”

Papyrus bobbed his head up and down with enthusiasm, warmth enveloping his soul. Boss opened the door to his room to grab the blueprints from the study, and when he returned, informed Papyrus that his brother and Red had left. Papyrus’s soul ached dully, regret raging within him for letting his anger cloud his judgment. He should’ve at least said goodbye to Sans.

Once he caught sight of the puzzle trap layouts, his attention immediately shifted to them. It was a basic schematic of spikes surrounding Boss and Red’s house, designed to ward off invaders. Boss wanted him to provide the most elaborate layout possible, one requiring utmost strength and intellect to breach. Boss also permitted him to wander around the perimeter of their house, though no further than a two meter radius. It, thankfully, had not been a command.

It turned out that, unlike he and Sans, who had lived in Snowdin proper, Boss and Red stayed within Snowdin Forest, hidden amongst the thick, overgrown evergreens. Even the trees seemed to mimic their citizens, the gnarled branches twisting against each other as if fighting for space. They varied in height and surrounded Boss and Red’s house in an almost alternating fashion.

Papyrus surveyed the snow-covered earth, the powder reaching an inch above his boots. Staring at his surroundings, he cocked his skull, stroking his chin while tapping his foot.

Perhaps he could design the puzzle to require the invader to press a specific sequence of levers to deactivate the spike traps. Papyrus surveyed the surrounding trees and forest ground. There was enough snow and foliage coverage to hide springs and wires. He drew arrows to organize the most efficient system. After two hours, he had completed the trap design and presented it to Boss, who recommended they start building it.

In the midst of helping Boss set the spike traps in place, the accusations Papyrus had voiced to Boss flooded his mind. Guilt churned deep within his soul. He inserted the trap and then spun around to face Boss who was attaching trick wires around the trunk and branches of a nearby tree.

“BOSS, I AM DEEPLY SORRY FOR MY BASELESS ACCUSATIONS OF YOU AND YOUR BROTHER, AND FOR HOW I ACTED THE FEW DAYS I HAVE BEEN HERE.” Papyrus bowed his head.

He did not receive a reply for quite some time, and Papyrus feared that Boss was too offended to care. His insides constricted tightly in disappointment. But, unexpectedly, a gloved hand raised his chin to face Boss. Heat shot to Papyrus’s cheekbones.

“I accept your apology, though I do not fault you for it.”

“REALLY?”

Boss retracted his hand and let it fall at his side. “You did not know what was going on. I would have acted the same way if I were in your position.”

Papyrus beamed, his spirits lifting higher than it had been in days. He and Boss were not so different despite their varied upbringing. It filled Papyrus with hope that the monsters of the Fell Kingdom could be reasoned with. Perhaps he could show them the kindness and mercy known to his own country, and become acquainted with the locals of Snowdin and the Fell Kingdom. It could be a way to give the Tale monsters back their freedom.

“This is enough for today. Do you want to join me in making dinner? My beef stew is famous in this town.” Boss puffed out his chest and smiled with self-satisfaction.

“YES, I WOULD LOVE TO!”

Without further ado, the two of them went back inside to prepare supper.

\---

_Boss stood at the peripheries of the room with the rest of the Royal Guardsmen, his hands trembling in anticipation at his side. He had worked hard for this day, had poured four years of his sweat, dust, and tears to reach this milestone. Ever since he was a babybones, he’d always dreamed of becoming a king; or at least, gaining recognition of that caliber. He had joined the Royal Guards with hopes to rise within the ranks and gain the King’s good graces._

_His other reason for joining had been to protect his elder brother. If he joined the Guards, he would receive combat training He would become strong enough to fight against anything that posed a danger to his brother. To be able to fight against Gaster._

_“Papyrus Aster, please step forth,” announced the King._

_After taking a deep breath, Boss marched down the hall to Asgore and Toriel’s thrones and knelt on one knee._

_“YOUR MAJESTIES.” He bowed._

_“For your services, I now grant you the title of General.” Asgore swept his strong, right arm to point at Undyne. “You and Undyne are my most valued members of the Fell Royal Guard. You shall work together to help expand the territory of the Fell Kingdom until all is under our rule!”_

_“I UNDERSTAND, MY KING! I, THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS, VOW TO UNITE EBOTT UNDER YOUR RULE! I SHALL NOT DISAPPOINT YOU!”_

 

Three days after Sans and Papyrus’s impromptu meeting, Boss had finally finished the necessary arrangements to bring him into town. He convinced Papyrus to don a new set of red attire that left no bone uncovered. It came with furry paws to slip over his skeletal hands and a rabbit mask with a set of ears. Beady, thin eye slits allowed Papyrus to see through the mask. Papyrus asked where Boss had gotten it. 

Boss replied with a curt “ONE OF RED’S FRIENDS.”

It was with no small amount of hesitation that Boss presented the final article to Papyrus — a plain orange collar, lacking the jutting spikes that Red had on his.

Papyrus stared at the offered collar in confusion, making no movement to grab it.

A few seconds later, Boss clarified, “You have to wear it.”

Still, Papyrus didn’t move. “BUT WHY?”

“So the rest of Snowdin will know I own you and leave you alone.”

“IS IT A FELL TRADITION?”

Boss paused before replying, “Yes.”

And without further protests, Papyrus clipped the collar on, tugging it a few times to test the tightness. Internally, Boss sighed in relief, expecting Papyrus to refuse or put up more of a fuss. As Papyrus adjusted the constriction, Boss couldn’t help but admire Papyrus’s smooth, elegant clavicles and how perfectly the collar fit around his neck.

“HOW DOES IT LOOK?”

“It fits you well.”

Papyrus beamed, and Boss’s soul flutter. For this one moment, as he stared at Papyrus in the collar, he could pretend that Papyrus was his. As soon as the thought flitted through his mind, guilt flooded him. Not only was Papyrus already committed to Sans, he already had a relationship with his own brother! How could he believe these feeling were proper?!

But try as he might, Boss couldn’t shake the fuzzy warmth that pervaded his soul when he and Papyrus worked together or when Papyrus gazed at him with such earnest fervor and appreciation. The most he could do was suppress it. He couldn’t betray both his brother’s and Sans’s trust.

“I did not expect you to agree so readily to something like this.”

“IF IT IS TO KEEP US SAFE, THEN I WILL ALLOW IT.”

Boss hummed with approval. “It would also be best if you remain silent and follow my directions. Monsters will be suspicious if you act too familiar with me.”

“I WILL GIVE IT MY BEST!”

Once Papyrus changed, Boss snatched a dark brown hooded cloak from his closet and covered the back of Papyrus’s skull. With the disguise complete, the two trekked down the snowy road into Snowdin proper. Boss kept his expression neutral and surveyed his surroundings as they walked, making sure to listen to any additional footsteps or unsuspecting sounds. Papyrus was always two steps behind him.

They passed by bare trees, their branches bereft of leaves due to the constant Snowdin chill. At the halfway point, Ice Wolf came into view. Boss adopted a harsh, cold scowl, hoping to minimize questions from the wolf.

When Ice Wolf’s eyes landed on Papyrus, Boss ordered sharply, “KEEP UP!”

Papyrus nodded stiffly and hunched his shoulders inward. The gesture was enough to imply that the “rabbit” monster was his newest servant. When Ice Wolf continued forward in the opposite direction, the tension Boss hadn’t realized was within him lessened.

The remainder of their journey was uneventful, and before long, the bridge into Snowdin came into view, followed shortly by the towering brick wall that enclosed the town.

As they approached the iron gate that led into Snowdin, Papyrus commented, “THE TALE SNOWDIN IS NOT GATED.”

“BE SILENT!” Boss hissed. “THERE ARE KEEPERS AT THE GATE.”

Papyrus shrank back. The gesture had Boss’s soul clenching with regret.

“JUST FOLLOW MY LEAD,” he ordered, and then quickly added in a whisper, ”Please.”

Boss marched forward to the iron gate with Papyrus trailing a step behind him and cleared his throat to get the guardsmen’s attention.

“IT IS I, THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS AND MY NEW SERVANT. LET ME THROUGH!”

The two sentry monsters, a bipedal bear monster and a dark-furred rat, gave a nod of acknowledgement and cranked open the gate. With a curl of his index and middle finger to beckon Papyrus, Boss proceeded down the main street of Snowdin. Shops, taverns, and inns lined each side of the icy streets. Most of the streets were empty except for some homeless monsters and those rushing to their destinations.

Every now and then, Boss glanced behind him to make sure Papyrus was keeping up. Despite the rabbit mask, Papyrus’s fascination was apparent. He fleetingly wondered what the Tale Snowdin was like. Probably much more lively and welcoming. A quarter of the buildings in this Snowdin were unoccupied save for the poor.

When they neared the town center, angry roars reached his ears. Outside the Apothecary, a wily rabbit monster towered over a short, hooded figure, banishing a knife threateningly. The cloaked monster stumbled backwards and fell on their bum, their hood slipping off to reveal a yellow lizard-like face behind a pair of spectacles. As they lay on the floor, the apothecary owner lunged at the lizard monster with killing intent.

Boss was shoved to the side, and before he had the chance to regain his bearings, Papyrus bounded over to step in front of the fallen monster, looking ready to summon a bone attack. Thinking fast, Boss materialized one of his own and threw it at the rabbit like a spear. It imbedded itself between the shopkeeper and Papyrus.

“STOP!” Boss roared.

All three monsters froze and turned to him. The Apothecary’s pupils constricted in fear and sweat beaded on the lizard monster’s forehead. Boss approached them in five wide strides.

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS RUCKUS?!”

“G-general Papyrus, I-I apologize,” the apothecary stuttered. “Th-this _Tale_ scum had the gall to ask to sell my prized echo-flower root for her rubbish transmutation potions!”

From Boss’s periphery, he saw Papyrus fretting over the cloaked lizard. They must’ve known each other.

“A-and then this… this trash has the nerve to stop me! Who is this?!” Spit spewed out of the apothecary's mouth.

“THAT IS MY SERVANT AND YOU WILL KEEP HIM OUT OF THIS!”

The rabbit genuflected. Before more groveling poured out of his lips, an angry “NGAAAGGGG!!” cut them off. Something blue and red blurred in front of them, coming to a stop in front of the group. 

Undyne.

Boss’s mind scrambled to come up with a way to escape this escalating situation. He cursed at his own weak resolve; how could he have allowed Papyrus to convince him of this idea in the first place?

To Boss’s surprise, Undyne marched in front of the apothecary owner and glared down at him.

“This gal is my guest!” she yelled, her face inches from the apothecary, “So if I see you attacking her again, I’ll make your life worse than you can ever imagine!”

The rabbit stuttered an endless stream of apologies and offered the ingredient the lizard had asked for. When she snatched it out of his hands, he then burrowed back into his shop like the worm that he was.

Boss huffed. He had not expected to see his Captain in Snowdin of all places; she despised the cold and avoided it at all costs. He reached out to signal Papyrus.

“ALPHYS! IT IS SO WONDERFUL TO SEE YOU AGAIN AFTER SO LONG!” Papyrus exclaimed.

“You’re a-alive?!”

Both Boss and Undyne whipped their heads to the two ex-Tale citizens.

“You know each other?! And what’s that mean, alive?!” Undyne asked. “Who the hell is this?” She narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she rounded on Boss.

Not letting this discussion spiral further out of control, Boss swiftly answered in a lower voice, “How about we discuss this in a more private setting?”

“Yeah, let's go to your place. I need a report from you anyway!”

Boss conceded and warned Papyrus to remain silent. The journey back was largely quiet, save for a few curt words between him and Undyne; Boss made sure there were no stray conversations between Papyrus and the new monster, Alphys. There were eyes and ears everywhere and anyone could be a spy for the Royal Family or Gaster.

When they arrived at his home, he discovered that his brother was absent, probably hanging out at Grilllby’s. As soon as he locked the front door, Undyne was on him.

“So who exactly is that?” She pointed at the rabbit costume.

“Do you promise to not tell anyone?”

“Yeah, I won’t!”

Boss crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“WILL YOU SWEAR UPON YOUR SPEAR, CAPTAIN?” Boss challenged in a low growl.

“Wha--?” Undyne narrowed her eyes and glared at Papyrus, whose arms twitched as though ready to remove the mask.

The rising tension in the room became thick enough to cut with a knife. Undyne glanced at Alphys, who stared back like a trapped animal.

“Pl-please, Undyne? I-I don’t understand wh-what’s going on, but I n-need to t-talk to h-him.” Alphys tilted her head towards Papyrus, who nodded.

“Fine,” the Captain grumbled. She raised her spear and announced, “I swear on my spear that I will not reveal anything that I see here.” She then dismissed her weapon.

Boss gave Papyrus the go-ahead. When Papyrus removed the mask and cloak, Undyne gasped.

“WHAT THE HELL?! How are you alive?! I saw your dust!”

Boss sighed and rubbed his temple, already feeling a headache forming. This was not how today was supposed to go.

“MY DEATH IS ALL BUT A MASTER JAPE!” Papyrus answered with a flourish.

Alphys giggled and quickly covered her mouth with her hands in embarrassment.

“Yes, it was a plan my brother and I put together to get Papyrus out of the Royal Palace. We substituted another monster’s dust as his.”

“That is treason!” Undyne argued, her fingers curling into tight fists. Magic sparked in them, and Boss could sense the stuttering of a barely-suppressed attack. His own surged forth in preparation.

“PLEASE DO NOT FIGHT!” Papyrus interrupted, taking two strides to stand in front of Undyne. He stared at her with determination. “IF YOU WANT TO BREAK YOUR PROMISE AND REPORT ME--”

Alphys gasped.

“That is—” Boss began.

“I WILL NOT STOP YOU, BUT I WILL NOT LET YOU GET BOSS AND RED IN TROUBLE FOR THEIR EFFORTS TO PROTECT ME!!”

“A-and m-me too!”

Much to all of their surprise, Alphys stood next to Papyrus, though her hands trembled.

Undyne looked as if she’d been punched in the face. She stood unyielding for a long minute, but eventually held up both her arms in surrender.

“Whoa, calm down, all of you! I’m sorry, geez!” She sighed and blew away the stray strand of her crimson hair that fell in front of her eye. “I’ll keep my word.”

The tension in Papyrus and Alphys’s form eased immediately, though Boss’s magic only dissipated once he saw Undyne relax. After a few moments, Undyne crossed her arms and sat down on the couch and Papyrus and Alphys quickly followed. Only Boss remained standing.

“So what’s the story behind all this?”

“It was to keep Gaster’s slimy hands away,” Boss explained.

At the mention of Gaster’s name, Papyrus’s posture went rigid. Boss ground his teeth in rage at the thought of the magician using either one of the Tale brothers for his magical experimentation.

Alphys made a sound halfway between a gasp and a squeal.

“G-Gaster? As in W.D. Gaster, the famous Royal Ma-magician of Fell? H-his theories on m-magic are really interesting and u-unique.”

Boss scoffed in disgust.

“UNIQUE DOES NOT ALWAYS MEAN GOOD!” Papyrus interrupted, wringing his hands.

“Yeah, there’s always something not right about him,” Undyne agreed.

“INDEED! HE IS QUITE DASTARDLY.”

Boss caught Papyrus’s look of discomfort at the mention of Gaster. Perhaps he should probe Papyrus more about it later, without Undyne and this Alphys as an audience.

“He is,” Boss said. He turned his head to Alphys. “And who are you? It’s rude, Captain, for you to not introduce your new friend.”

Undyne narrowed her eyes.

“Only if you and your brother keep your bony hands off of her!” she warned. “This is Alphys. She’s an alchemist that used to work for the Tale Royal Family. I found her a few months back when the resistance group began their revolt. Thought her knowledge of potion making and transmutations could be useful!”

Boss discerned the oddity of that statement. Why was Undyne being so secretive if she wanted Alphys’s alchemy skills?

“So useful that you are hiding her from the King and Queen,” Boss stated matter-of-factly.

Undyne’s eyes widened in shock, looking ready to refute the statement; instead, she faltered with a chuckle.

“You caught me, General. I enjoy Alphys’s company.” Undyne directed her gaze to said monster, who smiled shyly and flushed pink. “Besides! She can create all sorts of transmogrification potions, and she’s even transmuted an armor body for a spirit.”

“AH YES, METTATON!” Papyrus affirmed. “HAVE YOU SEEN HIM LATELY?”

Alphys frowned and ruefully shook her head. Both monsters fell silent. Boss and Undyne met each other’s gazes with comprehension. Papyrus and Alphys’s action could only be interpreted one of two ways — either Mettaton was dead or he was still in hiding somewhere.

Boss couldn’t help the nagging guilt from creeping into his soul. He had played a major role in the Tales Kingdom’s downfall, had he not? It was admirable for Papyrus, Sans, Alphys, and even the human child, to treat him and his fellow Fell monsters so civilly and without violence despite everything they had done.

“H-hey, Papyrus, is Sans n-not with you? I-is he…?” Alphys muttered, trailing off at the end.

“Yeah? Where is that lazy prankster?” Undyne added.

Papyrus visibly flinched at the inquiry. Boss found the skeleton’s behavior towards his brother becoming progressively more suspicious and concerning.

“If you are worried about him, he is fine.” Boss hoped that was the case at least. He cleared his throat and continued, “He is still at the Royal Palace. From what I have heard, he’s helping Queen Toriel create a potion to cure her adopted child’s ailment.”

With a spark of interest in her eyes, Alphys asked, “O-oh? What kind of p-potion? Do y-you happen to kn-know? Because if you do, I may be able to h-help.”

“That’s perfect, Alphys!” Undyne smacked the lizard on her back, using enough force to knock her glasses askew. “If you help cure King Asgore’s adopted brat, then he could grant you permission to stay with me so we don’t have to sneak around with everything. It’s such a pain!”

“YES, THAT WOULD BE A WONDERFUL IDEA!” Papyrus uttered.

All three trained their eyes at Boss.

“What?” he asked.

“SO DO YOU KNOW WHAT ILLNESS THE CHILD HAS?”

“I do not, unfortunately. Those are just words I have heard from the human from Tale,” Boss said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Papyrus beamed. “YOU’VE SPOKEN TO FRISK? HOW ARE THEY? I HOPE THEY ARE NOT TOO LONELY WITHOUT ME AROUND.”

“They appeared well, last I spoke to them.” Boss rested his arms against his chest.

“That is g-good to hear,” Alphys said, as she readjusted her glasses.

“In any case, if I hear of it, I will let you know.”

Alphys and Papyrus both thanked him, and Undyne gave a final nod of approval before standing up.

“It’s getting late, and I need to head back to Waterfall. Are you ready, Alphys?”

Boss was shocked at how accommodating Undyne was towards Alphys. She rarely acted this way even to him, the closest she’d ever had to a best friend.

“Y-yeah.” Alphys stood up and shuffled over to Undyne, though she trained her gaze to Papyrus. “It was nice s-seeing you again, Papyrus. I h-hope to see y-you around.”

“ME TOO! GOODBYE ALPHYS!”

“I’ll be in contact with you, General.”

Boss bid farewell to the two of them, and when they left, he sighed in exhaustion, finally taking a seat on the couch next to Papyrus. Papyrus was deep in thought, as was obvious from his contemplative appearance. Before he could ask what he was thinking, a pair of long, bony arms wrapped around him from his side. Boss froze, caught completely off guard.

“THANK YOU, BOSS, FOR YOUR HELP. IT HAS MADE EVERYTHING MORE BEARABLE.”

Despite Papyrus’s gratitude, guilt clawed at Boss’s insides. Did he really deserve Papyrus’s thanks after everything he had done? Sure, he and his brother were helping in any way they could, but it didn’t erase the fact that he’d assisted in bringing down Papyrus and Sans’s kingdom.

When he rose to the rank of General and made the vow to unite Ebott under Fell, he had not given much thought to how it would affect the monsters of Tale. At that moment, he’d only thought of the pride and power it would bring him. But now that he’d encountered the Tale monsters’ forgiving and kind nature, he realized his former preconceptions had been wrong. In fact, he liked Papyrus’s unbound enthusiasm and Sans’s subdued determination.

Hesitantly, Boss returned Papyrus’s embrace, feeling the warmth from Papyrus’s soul suffusing his bones. It was then that Boss decided he could do more to help the former Tale monsters that had been forced to become Fell citizens. For Papyrus, and for Sans, he would give it his all.

He had a long conversation ahead with his brother.


	9. The Potion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Queen Toriel grants Sans a few days to get the potion he promised her done. He gets some unexpected assistance from Red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to [undertailsoulsex](https://archiveofourown.org/users/undertailsoulsex/works) for beta-reading.
> 
> Also, I ended up splitting this original single chapter into two so once again, the chapter length increased.

A metallic clang rang out as the gate into Sans’s cell swung open. As he expected, when he peered over his shoulder, he saw Frisk. Who he did not expect to see, however, was Queen Toriel, who stood beside them, wearing a chilly expression. Sans floundered, rolling off the cot and onto the grimy floor. When he got up he kept his skull bowed.

He thought Asgore would have been the one to deliver his sentence. It’d only been, what, a week since he’d been imprisoned in the dungeons. Was this the end for him? At least his brother was safe with Red and Boss. He wished he could have spent more time with them, to become better friends with them.

“your majesty?” he greeted, his voice low and feeble.

“Sans the Skeleton,” the Queen began in a professional tone. “I will not have you rot away in this dingy place when you still owe your promise to me.”

Sans looked up at the Queen, blinking in confusion. Toriel tutted with her teeth and crossed her arms.

“There are five more days before the deadline. The potion,” she added as she looked at him pointedly.

It took a few seconds for him to recollect that he had promised to brew an anti-ailment elixir for Queen Toriel. He had barely had the time to research the ingredients in the week leading up to everything that had happened; it wasn’t as though he could do anything while stuck in this cell.

“Due to this, I have temporarily pardoned you without further punishment on the condition that you complete the potion for my child.”

Sans blinked as he stared at Queen Toriel, her crimson eyes and imposing stature radiating waves of subdued power. She reminded Sans so much of the late Queen from Tale, who he’d called Tori. The only difference he saw was a barely noticeable scar that ran down the right side of her snout. His soul panged as he remembered the close friendship he’d had with her.

“So what will you do now, Sans?”

The deep rumble of Queen Toriel’s voice snapped his attention back to her. He saw no deceit on her face, only the cold neutrality befitting a ruler. For that, Sans was grateful. He wasn’t about to let this chance fly by. He had a promise to keep.

“what are the main symptoms of the kid’s sickness?”

Toriel’s eyes widened minutely, and her snout scrunched in concentration.

“Fever, chills, and fatigue primarily. They’ve also been complaining of pain.”

It sounded like one of the human illnesses that Sans had read in the human’s medical references. There was no reason why his healing elixirs wouldn’t work. He only needed to obtain the necessary ingredients.

Sans dipped his skull lower. “i’ll get it to you by the end of the week.”

“Good. If you had not agreed, I would have let you rot in here forever.” A chill shot down Sans’s spine. “In any case, the quicker you get the potion done, the better.”

“i understand.”

Toriel bid him farewell and took her leave. Once she did, Frisk scurried over to Sans and brought him some bread and a cinnamon bunny.

“thanks, kiddo.”

Sans downed the bread and cinnabun. As soon as it fell within his jaws, the monster food disintegrated, and magic surged within him.

Once he was finished, he followed Frisk through the dim main hallway out of the dungeons, ignoring all the jeers from the prisoners.

As soon as they were out of the dungeons, Sans asked, “how’re ya holdin’ up, buddy?”

_I should ask you the same question, Sans._

“m’fine.” Sans shrugged, guilt churning in his soul.

Should he tell them about Papyrus? They were just as close to his brother as they were to him.

Frisk, without warning, stepped in front of Sans to block his path. A frown adorned their face.

They peered around the corridor of the west wing before signing, _I saw you disappear with someone._

Panic shot through Sans, and he seized Frisk’s hands.

He, too, swept his gaze around the empty hallway, and signed back, _It’s complicated… but Pap’s alive._

Their eyes widened and their jaw dropped. Slowly, a wide smile broke out on their face.

_That’s great! I knew Papyrus couldn’t go down that easily._

“heh, yep, you know it.” Despite his laid-back tone, his soul constricted painfully at the memory of his brother's hurt and disappointed expression when he’d learned the truth of his supposed “death.” 

_Did you get help from General Papyrus?_

“geez, pal, you’ve been, uh, busy playin’ detective?” A bead of sweat dotted his forehead, and his entire stance grew tense.

 _He asked me about you,_ Frisk answered. _He’s nicer than I thought. He reminds me of a grumpy cat._ They giggled softly. _I told him about the anti-sickness potion._

“didja now?”

He wasn’t exactly angry at the human kid; just caught off guard by how quickly they grew to trust Boss after their initial encounter. Then again, Frisk was about as forgiving as Papyrus.

“thanks, kiddo.” Sans ruffled their hair with fondness.

 _But please try your best to get it done. Chara got sick again, and it’s worse than last time._ Frisk frowned, their eyebrows furrowing together in concern.

“i’ll give it my best.” He winked.

 _I know you will._ They beamed at him. _I have to get back to work. I’ll see you around, Sans._

“take care of yourself, frisk.” He waved limply as he watched them turn a corner.

Sans briefly wondered if he or Red could help. Didn’t Red know some things about magic, even if he didn’t actively practice it?

Sans gave a weary sigh, wishing he could simply nap all day long. Unfortunately, that draught he’d promised for Queen Toriel - and now Frisk - wasn’t going to create itself. He still needed to find the recipe to refresh his memory and collect the ingredients.

After nabbing a traveler’s cloak from the servants’ closet, and making sure no one was watching him, Sans vanished. He reappeared behind a tall shelf lined with thick tomes. Few monsters lingered in this area of the library, which he’d discovered the last time he was here. Keeping his entire skull shrouded under the hood, Sans wandered throughout the shelves and eventually found the section on Potion Crafts. Only three sections away were the books on Soul Magic and Curses. A part of him itched to read up more on the curse Gaster had used on him and his brother, but he had a more urgent topic to cover.

It didn’t take him long to find the green textbook he’d been searching for — _Healing Draughts and Elixirs_. He’d originally owned a copy of the text, but had given it to Alphys as a gift long ago. Potion making wasn’t his forte; he was more practiced in summoning and space-time related spells. Alphys always had a greater interest and grasp in the alchemical side of magic.

He flipped through the pages until he reached a section about “Echinamide Tincture” and jotted down the list of ingredients on a scrap of parchment paper. 

It would help with the fever and chills, but not the pain or the fatigue. Maybe he could combine it with a painkiller? He skimmed through several hundred more pages until he found an analgesic elixir. 

As he was copying the formula, a pulse of magic shattered the stillness in the air. Without thinking, Sans teleported out of the way. Cross-shaped pebbles hurtled where he had just been standing and clattered onto the ground. Sans spun around and spotted a short, robed monster with a scowl on his face. Two orbs, one red and one brown, circled the monster. A madjick.

“Oh?! A fellow mage? Who might you be?”

Sans didn’t answer; he had been careless, using his magic.

“No answer? A pity.” The madjick scoffed, disappointed. “Perhaps I’ll just force it out of you.”

The red orb flared briefly. All of a sudden, flames ate away at Sans’s list, consuming the bottom half of it. A wide smirk grew on the madjick’s face.

“Answer my questions, or I’ll burn it all away. The choice is yours.”

Sans gasped as his soul constricted painfully without warning. Even if he didn’t care that the piece of parchment was burned — he could always recopy the recipes — it didn’t matter. The curse word had been uttered; he had to obey.

“i’m sans the skeleton,” Sans answered automatically. i’m a mage.”

The madjick’s expression brightened with interest. “You’re from the former Tale Kingdom, aren’t you?”

There was a dangerous glint in his eyes. The embers continued to burn the parchment while earthen crosses reappeared around him. Sans tugged at his magic in preparation to dodge the attack when suddenly, a shattering sound echoed around them. The crosses dissipated in a brilliant flash.

A short bone protruded from the madjick’s brown orb, littering the surface with cracks. A second later, it fragmented into a hundred tiny pieces and rained down on the floor like glass stars.

At the sound of heavy footsteps, Sans turned to see Red’s stout frame marching towards them. As the madjick stared in horrified shock at his destroyed orb, Red seized them by their cloak collar and stabbed a sharpened bone into their right shoulder.

“you got a bone to pick with him, pal?” Red growled.

“I’m the heir to this library! I can do whatever I want! AHHH!”

“well wouldn’t it be bad if somethin’ were to happen t’ya?” Red raised his left arm above his head, a second pointed bone glinting in the light, and brought it down.

As though a switch had been flipped, Sans snapped out of his stupefied trance and controlled the space around madjick to pull him out of Red’s attack.

The sharp bone construct embedded into the ground.

“what? what’re ya doin?!” Red roared, as his ruby pupils constricted into pinpoints.

Sans glanced at the madjick, who stared at him with stunned confusion, and turned back to Red to say, “it’s not worth gettin’ your hands dirty.”

Although Sans didn’t like the madjick, he didn’t wish for the monster to die. And especially not from Red. There was no need for him to get monster dust on his hands for something as trivial as this.

Red looked ready to object, but instead sighed, “fine.” He glared at the madjick. ”leave us alone or i’ll hunt ya down and make a pincushion outta ya!”

The madjick scrambled up and scurried off, clutching the remaining red orb against their chest. Once they were gone, Sans found himself face-to-face with an angry Red.

“that mindset of yours could get ya in real trouble.”

Sans shrugged, regretting nothing. His only concern about letting the madjick go was the possibility of the King, Queen, and Gaster finding out about his ability to freely teleport.

“and why didja tell ‘im who you were?”

“it’s complicated,” Sans replied shortly.

“whaddya mean complicated? your ‘mysterious’ act is getting annoying.”

“it’s not on purpose,” Sans said with irritation. Although he appreciated Red’s interference, the effects of Gaster’s curse had soured his mood. Hoping to change the topic, he inquired, “how’s papyrus doin’?”

The anger fell away from Red’s face, and he stuck his fists inside his cloak pockets.

“he’s been adjusting pretty well. him and boss seem to be getting along good.”

“... that’s good to hear.” Despite his words, a sharp pang racked Sans’s soul.

But what had he expected? Papyrus had been so disappointed with him that he hadn’t even said goodbye to him last they’d met. There was no way for him to support Papyrus given their distance apart; it made sense that Boss would pick up the slack for his own poor decisions.

“hey. i’m sure papyrus’ll forgive ya fer what happened,” Red said. Sans noticed Red’s fingers twitching within his cloak pocket and he got the distinct impression that he wanted to provide physical comfort. “i can help set up another meeting with him if ya want.”

Sans shook his head. “it’s ok.”

Another awkward silence fell between them. Red took the time to glance through the book.

“you makin’ a potion or something?”

“yeah. an echinamide tincture for the queen’s kid. need to get the ingredients though.”

Red flipped to the page Sans had marked and skimmed it. His red pupils brightened.

“i’ll help ya then. know just the person who sells this stuff for cheap.”

Red grabbed Sans’s hand. Butterflies fluttered in his nonexistent stomach from the gentle grip. The world lurched, and the two of them appeared in front of a bustling, cobblestone street, standing outside a store called “Tuffet’s Herbal Remedy Shoppe.” A soft ringing echoed through the stuffy, herb-scented interior as they opened the front door.

A petite spider lady came out from behind a massive shelf to greet them. Her top right arm waved at them as the other seven held a variety of roots, herbs, and jars. Spots of dirt and grime covered her magenta tunic, tucked-in pants, and gray boots. Her appearance reminded Sans of Muffet, the spider monster who had owned a bake shop in the Tale portion of Waterfall.

“Welcome to my humble abode.” Tuffet tapped her boots twice on the wooden floor and then faced Red. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“heh, been busy with stuff.” Red shrugged, pupils darting from Sans back to her.

The spider shopkeeper took one look at Sans and giggled with one of her hands covering her mouth. “Oh? Is this the monster keeping you so… _busy_?”

She scurried across the floor until she was inches from Sans, all eight eyes surveying him with an intensity than made him recoil.

“hey, we’re just here to grab some ingredients.” Red forked over the list.

Tuffet perused the piece of parchment.

“I can provide most of this, but if you wish to acquire them, you’ll have to complete a delivery job for me first.”

“oh? to who?” Red said with a raise of his bone brow.

“That fire elemental friend of yours.”

Red’s mouth curled into a wide grin, revealing his razor-sharp teeth.

“sure. haven’t visited the ol’ flame in awhile, heh.”

Tuffet rolled all six of her eyes as she handed Red a small package wrapped in black cloth.

“Do not look at it or else I’m not selling you any of the ingredients you need,” Tuffet warned, the pincers on her closest arms twitching.

She gave off the same dangerous aura as a similar spider monster from Tale that sold baked goods. Sans wondered if this monster knew who Muffet was.

“Oh? You’ve met my sister?”

Sans gaped at Tuffet, speechless. “uh yeah. she sold desserts and drinks in waterfall from what i remember.”

“Yes, I’ve heard her shop is still running in Waterfall. She always had a penchant for hiding, huhuhu.”

Sans didn’t understand how he and Tuffet got into this conversation unless she--

“Did I surprise you? It’s one of my… gifts,” Tuffet winked with two of her eyes. “Now you better hurry. I close in three hours.”

“will do,” Red said. “see ya in a bit.”

Sans’s mind was still processing Tuffet’s ability when Red grabbed his left arm and teleported them out of the herb-scented shop and into a decrepit alleyway between a building with a stone foundation and another establishment made of wood.

“she a mind reader?” he asked, his voice a touch higher in pitch.

“yep. but don’t worry. she’s, uh, pretty selective on what she chooses to read.”

“selective?”

“yeah, only cares to ‘hear’ thoughts related to her sister - muffet was it? - and their spider family. if it makes ya feel better, she was against the whole, y’know,” Red gave a weak shrug. “invasion into tale. prolly cause her sis lives there.”

As Sans was processing the information, Red beckoned him to follow. They crept along the back wall of the stone building until, without warning, Red stopped. A four by four stone block stood out from the rest of the embankment, the color appearing lighter than the rest. Red bent down and, with a grunt, pushed the section inward. A scraping sound echoed throughout the alley as the block slid out of the way.

“c’mon,” Red said.

He ducked below the newly created hole and crawled through. As Sans followed, a blast of hot air blew into Sans’s face and bright firelight illuminated the interiors of the establishment.

It was a blacksmith’s shop. They had entered through the back wall furthest from the front entrance, just behind a rack of tools. Two workstations, complete with anvils, lined the side walls, running parallel to each other. In the center of the room sat a giant, square fire pit with a wide, brick chimney attached. Nestled behind the leftmost station sat an innocuous door to what Sans could only assume was to another part of the building.

_Clang! Clang! Clang!_

A purple fire elemental hammered away at a metal rod at one of the nearby workstations.

“heya, chillby, got a delivery fer ya,” Red called out, as he held out the cloth package.

The purple flame monster, “Chillby” apparently, stopped his work and turned to face them, the fire flickering bright blue along the edges. He wore a grimy, brown apron around his waist, covering his black, fur-lined armor. When he caught sight of Red, a wide grin split his visage.

“You finally decided to show yourself after asking for my best smoke bombs with barely any explanation?”

Red shrugged. “was busy with some stuff. y’know how it can get.”

Red tilted his head forward, gesturing Sans to follow. The two of them approached the blacksmith. Chillby dropped what he was working on and crossed his arms to survey the two of them.

“Oh? And who might this be?”

With how closely Chillby was watching him, Sans wondered if the elemental could see through his hood. Chillby took a heavy stride closer, his embers expanding. Red stepped in front of Sans and widened his stance.

“he’s a friend. no need to concern yerself.”

Tension rose between them as they glared silently at each other. Sans’s soul pounded against his ribcage, though he couldn’t discern if it was from the scene before him or Red’s words. He was… elated that Red considered him a friend.

Eventually, crackling chuckles arose from Chillby. He backed off and raised his palms in a pacifying gesture.

“Didn’t mean to be confrontational, Red. I just wanted to know if he’s _available_.” He pronounced the last word with a suggestive lilt and it took a second for Sans to understand. Heat rushed to his cheeks.

Red snorted. “still tryna hit on ever’thing that moves, chillby?”

A soft pop came from Chillby’s head, the flames sparking white. “When you have a schedule as busy as me, what choice do you have. Don’t you agree, Red’s friend? Why don’t we have a good time together… in my bedroom,” he stated, nodding towards the door to Sans’s left. 

Sans gritted his teeth, hard enough to make them creak, as he fought the compulsion to join Chillby by his side and head into the back room. If he gave in now, he would be complicent to Chillby’s advances. What would Red think?

Sans opened his mouth to answer, when all of a sudden, the command over his soul released. He gasped, opening his eye sockets -- when had he even closed them? -- to see Chillby picking himself off the ground, with Red towering angrily over the flame’s fallen form.

“hey, asshole, could ya tone down the flirtin’ a bit. yer makin’ my friend here uncomfortable.” Red’s words carried an undercurrent of threat.

For a tense second, Sans thought a bigger fight, one that would set fire to the building, would break out; instead, crackling came from Chillby as his wispy head wavered and expanded in the motion of laughter. The stiffness in Red’s shoulders eased.

“Apologies, my friend. It is still amusing to rile you up even after all this time.”

“thanks, asshole,” Red deadpanned.

He tossed the package at Chillby who caught it without even flinching. With a slight grin, Chillby reached into his back pocket of his trousers and pulled out a few gold and silver coins. He then peered directly at Sans and offered a glove-covered hand. Sans didn’t move, still shaken by what had just occurred, at how Chillby could’ve done worse than simple flirting and Sans would’ve been helpless to stop any unwanted advances.

“Hey, Red’s friend, sorry for making you uncomfortable. I didn’t mean it.”

Then why had his been intent so strong.

Sans cleared his parched throat and croaked, “it’s all good.” He refused Chillby’s offer to shake hands.

There was another bout of silence until Red announced they were ready to head out. Sans couldn’t have been happier to leave the blacksmith. Red teleported them to Waterfall. From the way the echo flowers glowed a deep magenta instead of blue, Sans figured they were on the Fell half of the region. He sighed, wishing he could return to his homeland.

Red had him wait by a clear lake and vanished again. Moments later, he reappeared carrying two steaming loaves of bread.

Grinning, Red held up one for Sans to take. “ever had calzones before?”

Sans shook his head.

“‘s never too late to try. you like tomatoes, dontcha?”

Sans accepted the offered food and bit one end of it. A burst of tangy, sweet tomato mixed with cheese filled his mouth. It was only then did Sans realize his hunger and tore into the calzone.

He and Red sat along the lake’s bank as they ate. Sans noticed that Red’s crimson eye lights would dart to him every now and then, expression pensive. Red probably suspected something was going on with him after their interaction with Chillby. However, Red never asked him about it, and, for that, Sans was grateful.

Sans was halfway through his calzone when something Chillby had said earlier sparked a question within his head.

“so... you and chillby...” Sans began. “you two have history together?”

“yep.” Red took a large bite of his calzone; the insides bled yellow. “was even with him for a bit when me and boss first got together.”

Sans blanched and stared at Red as if he’d grown another head. It took a minute for Red to realize why.

“oh, guess you tale folks only have monogamous relationships?”

“uh, yeah, is that not the same in fell?”

Red shook his head. “nope. though i guess different circumstances changed our views on certain things.” He finished his calzone and continued, “we had a population problem. though part of it’s prolly ‘cause of all the wars we start, heh. anyways, years back, the king ‘n queen repealed the law that’d banned polygamy and polyamory. thought if we do the do with whoever we wanted, it would, y’know, create more children.”

Sans finished up his food as he listened to Red’s explanation. After the initial shock of the revelation, he mulled over the idea of his love for Papyrus, along with his brother’s seemingly growing love for Boss.

Or his own growing fondness of being with Red.

Maybe everything could still work out between him and his brother once the curse was broken. Sans shook his head to clear the idea from his mind. Red gave him a wide, suggestive grin.

“i know what yer thinkin’.”

“what?” Sans’s face grew hot.

Curse his reactive magic.

“you up fer tryin it?”

“wha-what? n-no, of course not.” Sans pulled his hood back up to cover his flushing skull, though it did nothing to curb Red’s snickering.

“well if yer open to it, i’ll speak to boss ‘n pap about it so we can all talk it out.”

Sans simply shrugged in response. He had other problems to worry about, like the potion that he’d promised to Queen Toriel. When Sans reminded Red about it, the two of them went back to Tuffet’s to retrieve the ingredients. There were still two pieces missing: eucalyptus and Cayenne powder, both of which were found in the Ruins of Tale.

“don’t worry, sans, i’ll get it fer ya within the next two days. i promised i’ll help ya with this, and i always keep my promises.

“alright. thanks for everything.”

And with a small pop of magic, they were back at the library where Sans had first met Red.

“aw, it ain’t no big deal.”

Feeling unexpectedly bold, Sans wrapped his arms around the other in a hug and lightly brushed his teeth against Red’s right cheeks. When he pulled away, he noticed a light pink adorning Red’s skull. He gave a final wave and teleported back to the Royal Palace.

Sans appeared in a supply closet within the servants’ quarters. After listening for any wandering footsteps and hearing none, Sans strolled out of the closet. He found ways to keep himself busy in the servants’ quarters -- washing dishes, sweeping floors, doing actual servant chores. Anything he could do to avoid bumping into Gaster.

Although it saved him from Gaster’s clutches, working did nothing to stop his mind from wandering to Red. His soul felt lighter whenever he thought of their previous encounters.Like when they had seen the stars together, or when Red had brought him to see his brother, or even their earlier conversation in Waterfell. As much as he tried, he couldn’t block the memories.

After all, he already had his brother… didn’t he? Was it truly alright for him to love someone else? Even if it seemed like a common practice in Fell?

And why had he kissed Red before they had parted? Sans had tried to convince himself that it was a way of thanking the other, but that wasn’t true.

Sans drooped and halted his floor sweeping. Deep melancholy and guilt swirled within him like a raging storm. Was it really appropriate to act so close with Red who already had his own brother? Sure, they could all eventually talk it out, but right now he couldn’t betray Papyrus’s and Boss’s trust. It wasn’t appropriate to pursue another relationship when he was already in one.

As Sans was about to turn in for the evening, loud, frantic pounding resounded from the door. When he opened it, Frisk stumbled inside, sweat pouring from their forehead and fear written all over their face. They embraced Sans tightly. He could feel their whole body trembling.

“whoa, kiddo, what’s got ya so rattled?” When Frisk didn’t respond with their usual giggles, Sans knew something horrible was up. “what’s up, frisk?”

They reluctantly peeled themselves away from Sans and signed, hands still quivering, _I saw him do it. He’s the one making Chara sick._

Sans’s soul stuttered to a halt. He had an inkling of who the ‘he’ referred to, but he still had to ask.

“who?”

_The Royal Magician, Gaster._


End file.
